On 12 April, the Cabinet of Ministers issued the Regulation on the number of Ukrainian civilians to be accommodated in municipalities. To ensure effective provision or socio-economic services to the Ukrainian civilians the number of refugees accommodated in each municipality will be in proportion to the number of the municipality’s declared population.
The State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) monitors the capacity of municipalities to provide support and, if necessary, will redirect Ukrainian refugees to able municipalities. The SFRS also maintains information on the number of Ukrainian civilians accommodated and updates it at least once a day according to the information provided by the municipalities. This will mainstream and facilitate solidarity of all Latvian municipalities in hosting Ukrainian civilians.
“Currently, the State Fire and Rescue Service continues to cooperate with municipalities in the resettlement of refugees. However, if these possibilities are exhausted, the new regulation will be triggered and Ukrainian refugees will be redirected and therefrom accommodated in proportion to the number of declared inhabitants in a municipality. We highly appreciate the contribution of each municipality and also of the citizens to ensure that Ukrainian refugees receive the necessary support and housing,” noted Minister for the Interior Marija Golubeva.
The distribution of municipal duty to assist shall be based on the number of declared residents of the Republic of Latvia - 2 002 090 according to the data provided by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs as of 1 March 2022. Up to forty thousand Ukrainian civilians may have to be accommodated, gradually.
Russian troops have continued their invasion of Ukraine for over a month, including the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the killing of civilians. More than four million Ukrainian civilians have already left Ukrainian territory since the start of the war, and the number of refugees arriving in Latvia is growing. A total of 15 017 Ukrainian civilians have already been issued with residence permits (humanitarian visas and temporary residence permits) with the right to employment, while 9215 people needed assistance with accommodation. The flow of Ukrainian civilians is unpredictable, but conditions need to be created to alleviate their suffering as well as to provide the primary support - accommodation.
Prepared by:
Gunta Jansone
Ministry of the Interior
Head of Information Division
Phone: +371 67219363; 29494943
E-mail: gunta.jansone@iem.gov.lv