<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee the erupting armed conflict. Some of them were displaced within Ukrainian territory, others crossed the border and sought refuge in neighbouring countries and others further abroad. This article explores the limits of international refugee law in addressing this situation, which are of two kinds. First, people fleeing armed conflict are not considered refugees under the Refugee Convention if they are ‘merely’ fleeing armed conflict. Furthermore, the large number of persons arriving is also a limit. These limitations of international refugee law are filled by regional protection statuses (including temporary protection in European Union law) and the procedural ways in which protection can be granted. This article focuses on whether the current legislation in EU law is a sufficient response to the situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.</p>
</abstract>

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee the erupting armed conflict. Some of them were displaced within Ukrainian territory, others crossed the border and sought refuge in neighbouring countries and others further abroad. This article explores the limits of international refugee law in addressing this situation, which are of two kinds. First, people fleeing armed conflict are not considered refugees under the Refugee Convention if they are ‘merely’ fleeing armed conflict. Furthermore, the large number of persons arriving is also a limit. These limitations of international refugee law are filled by regional protection statuses (including temporary protection in European Union law) and the procedural ways in which protection can be granted. This article focuses on whether the current legislation in EU law is a sufficient response to the situation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

European Response to the Mass Influx of People Caused by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Testing the Limits of International Refugee Law

International and Comparative Law Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee the erupting armed conflict. Some of them were displaced within Ukrainian territory, others...

European Response to the Mass Influx of People Caused by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Testing the Limits of International Refugee Law

Published Online: Oct 13, 2023

Page range: 53 - 71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/iclr-2023-0003

Keywords
temporary protection, people fleeing armed conflicts, post-2022 invasion Ukraine, armed conflicts, prima facie status determination, Ukrainian refugees

© 2023 Věra Honusková, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

European Response to the Mass Influx of People Caused by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Testing the Limits of International Refugee Law

Published Online: Oct 13, 2023

Page range: 53 - 71

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/iclr-2023-0003

Keywordstemporary protection, people fleeing armed conflicts, post-2022 invasion Ukraine, armed conflicts, prima facie status determination, Ukrainian refugees

© 2023 Věra Honusková, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
temporary protection, people fleeing armed conflicts, post-2022 invasion Ukraine, armed conflicts, prima facie status determination, Ukrainian refugees