Ireland suspended the visa-free regime for refugees from many European countries to provide places for Ukrainians.
Source: Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney
The Irish government decision came after the country, which has already accepted more than 43,000 Ukrainians, ran out of places for newly arrived Ukrainians because they were taken by refugees from other countries.
As a result, hundreds of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, who have landed in Ireland since Thursday have ended up sleeping on the floor of a disused Dublin Airport building and, starting Tuesday, will be temporarily sheltered at an Irish army-erected tent village north of the capital.
Dublin linked these problems to an unexpectedly strong flow of non-Ukrainian refugees arriving from other European countries, the number of which is twice the pre-pandemic norm.
This decision will stop visa-free travel for refugees coming from 20 other countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Foreign Minister of Ireland, Simon Coveney stressed that the change “will assist in the protection of Ukrainians, and those of other nationalities, who are fleeing conflict, as it will lessen the incidence of abuse of this system.”
See also: Ireland will help Ukraine with restoration and on the way to the EU
