Less and less free housing: one of the European countries disappointed Ukrainian refugees.

France urges Ukrainian refugees to leave the housing provided to them

France is cutting budget expenditures on refugee maintenance to facilitate their integration into the French community. Ukrainians who fled the war receive letters requesting them to leave the temporary housing provided to them. This is reported by the French publication Le Monde.

The authorities of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in eastern France have ordered Ukrainian refugees to leave state-provided housing. «Since the end of September, dozens of displaced persons in the Grand Est region have been ordered to return the housing provided to them by local associations by October 31», – the article states. 

This decision was made due to budget cuts on refugee maintenance and to facilitate their integration into the French community.

In total, 1,600 Ukrainian refugees live in Meurthe-et-Moselle. Approximately 600 of them live in apartments rented at state expense. Most refugees – retirees who are unable to work, which forced some to return to Ukraine, even to frontline regions, due to such decisions by the French authorities.

However, after human rights organizations intervened in the situation, the department authorities postponed the eviction deadlines to the end of December.

According to Ukrainian associations, in other French regions, «the transition to other housing was organized in advance, smoothly, without significant tensions». However, they noted that in eastern France, «support through integration was not complete».

At the same Time, local housing associations, authors of the eviction letters, claim that they are acting at the government's request. «All necessary steps aimed at professional integration and autonomy were not made thoroughly enough to include you in the general integration program in the region», – states the letter signed by the Reception and Social Reintegration Association of Meurthe-et-Moselle.

It is also suggested that interested parties find a personal relocation solution: «If this fails, a referral to an emergency shelter may be offered, subject to availability.»

Incidentally, Paris is not against inviting Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Alliance, but only after the end of the war with Russia. This was stated by the Minister Delegate for European Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, Benjamin Haddad, on LCI TV. He responded to the statement that the invitation of Kyiv does not yet mean its accession.