European Responses
In March 2022, the European Union (EU) adopted a temporary protection mechanism for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine. The mechanism provides Ukrainian nationals and other legal residents of Ukraine who cannot safely return to their countries of origin with immediate rights of residency, medical assistance, and access to housing, education, and the labor market in EU countries. To take pressure off national systems for processing asylum claims, the mechanism applies collectively, waiving the need to examine individual applications. The decision initially applies for one year, with a provision that the EU may extend the mechanism to up to three years. In addition to providing funding and material for humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, the EU has taken steps that unlock €20 billion in EU resources for member states hosting refugees to use in meeting their housing, education, and health care needs. Non-EU members such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Norway have adopted national protection mechanisms for Ukrainian refugees. As of November 15, 2022, more than 4.7 million Ukrainian refugees had registered for temporary protection in European countries. Government authorities, humanitarian organizations, local communities, and volunteers in European countries have been providing refugee reception and assistance. Although many of the refugees have been welcomed, the willingness and capacity of European countries to host Ukrainian refugees over the long term is unclear.
U.N. Humanitarian Appeals
The U.N. humanitarian funding appeal (2022) for Ukraine seeks nearly $4.3 billion to address the acute humanitarian needs of the most crisis-affected people within the country. The U.N. Regional Refugee Response Plan projects that 8.3 million Ukrainian refugees may need protection and assistance in neighboring countries and seeks $1.85 billion to help support the most vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers.
U.S. Response and Issues for Congress
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States provided more than $351 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine between FY2014 and FY2021. In FY2022 Congress appropriated nearly $8.9 billion specifically for global humanitarian accounts within two broader emergency supplemental appropriations bills for Ukraine. (Congress also authorized funds from two other aid accounts for the response to long-term food insecurity related to the conflict.)
As of September 30, 2022, of the nearly $8.9 billion appropriated, USAID and the State Department had obligated or disbursed more than $1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance, of which over $1 billion was for the response in Ukraine and $499 million was to support refugees hosted by countries in the region. To date, the agencies have not officially reported on humanitarian assistance obligations in countries outside the region but affected by the situation in Ukraine.
While U.S. humanitarian assistance in response to the situation in Ukraine had bipartisan support in FY2022, Members of Congress may continue to debate how such funds should be allocated, whether U.S. assistance is being used efficiently and effectively, and whether enacted funding is sufficient to support U.S. objectives. Members may also
- monitor the pace and levels of disbursed versus appropriated funds;
- conduct oversight of delivery challenges, including those associated with access and security conditions, as well as civilian protection and violations of IHL; and
- assess the needs of countries hosting refugees from Ukraine, and the appropriate division of responsibility between the EU, the United States, and other donor countries.
