1) They had been granted refugee status or a similar status in Ukraine before the war;
2) They are family members of Ukrainian nationals or family members of persons who
had been granted international protection in Ukraine before the war; or
3) They were legally residing in Ukraine before the war and had a permanent residence
permit and cannot return to their country of origin.
Under current EU guidelines, EU Member States may extend Temporary Protection to
other stateless persons displaced from Ukraine if they wish, but this is optional.46 UNHCR
has recommended that European States take an inclusive approach and grant temporary
protection to stateless people, including those who did not have permanent residence
status in Ukraine.47
45. Romania is implementing the EU Temporary Protection Directive and Council Decision,48
and stateless people are eligible to apply for Temporary Protection in Romania if they
meet the TPD criteria set out in para. 44.49 However, Romania has not extended
Temporary Protection to stateless persons who had temporary residence or
undocumented status in Ukraine. Many stateless people are thus excluded from
Temporary Protection in Romania, including stateless people and people of
‘undetermined’ nationality who were present in Ukraine before the war without having
acquired refugee status or other international protection or permanent residence and
who are not family members of relevant persons.
46. Stateless people from Ukraine who are ineligible for Temporary Protection may be
eligible to apply for international protection in Romania, under normal procedures for
claiming asylum or subsidiary protection. They will be assisted during the duration of the
asylum process in the same way as other people seeking asylum. Stateless people from
Ukraine who are ineligible for Temporary Protection may also be able to access shortterm humanitarian assistance for people fleeing Ukraine, including e.g. temporary
accommodation in camps, food, clothing, personal hygiene items, healthcare, and
inclusion in national public health programmes (including for COVID-19). This assistance
is provided for up to 60 days.50
47. Because Romania does not have a statelessness determination procedure, stateless
persons fleeing Ukraine will generally not have a possibility to be recognised as stateless
in Romania, unless this occurs through one of the other procedures mentioned.
46
Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced
persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC, and having effect of introducing temporary
protection, paras 11-14.
47 UNHCR, News Comment: UNHCR welcomes EU decision to offer Temporary Protection to Refugees fleeing Ukraine (March
2022).
48 European Commission, ‘Romania: New act grants temporary protection to those fleeing Ukraine’ (18 March 2022):
https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/library-document/romania-new-act-grants-temporary-protection-those-fleeingukraine_en
49 See also: https://igi.mai.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Text-protectie-temporara-EN-pdf.pdf and https://ecre.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/06/ECRE-Update-30-May-2022-Implementation-of-the-TPD.pdf.
50 ENS, Country briefing on Romania, Information for stateless people and those at risk of statelessness fleeing Ukraine, May
2022, available at: https://www.statelessness.eu/statelessness-ukraine-crisis.
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