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Ukrainian refugees’ integration would benefit Russia - experts

ALEXANDROVA Lyudmila 

MOSCOW, July 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Ongoing growth of refugee flow from Ukraine faces Russia with the need to integrate those who do not come back in the Russian economy. Despite the social burden increase over the short term, this will only benefit the country in the long term, experts say.

Intensified military actions in Ukraine’s southeast prompted more people to leave the country. More than 30,000 Ukrainians have already applied for refugee status or temporary asylum with the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS), head of the authority Konstantin Romodanovsky said at the meeting with the Director of the Bureau for Europe of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Vincent Cochetel. A total of 26,500 have applied for temporary asylum, while about 4,000 have asked for refugee status.

About 130,000 asked for “a consultation connected to the hope for long-term residence in Russia”. These were not the people who asked for a work permit, Romodanovsky said. “They have decided they need long-term residence in Russia. And conditions back home are doubtful for them to come back,” Romodanovksy said.

The inflow of refugees is no more possible to estimate, so evaluations provided by officials sometimes differ. According to one of them, Russia has accepted about 500,000 Ukrainian citizens, the deputy minister of emergency situations, Vladimir Stepanov, has said recently.

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