According to state estimates, around 10,000 displaced Ukrainians have returned to their country after being accepted in France, Didier Lechy, head of France’s Office of Immigration and Integration (Ofii), told AFP on Monday.

“We believe that around 10,000 (displaced Ukrainians) left at the end of September, according to cards for assistance to asylum seekers with disabilities,” explained Ofia’s CEO, who gave the first estimate of the movement of departures in almost eight months since the war in Ukraine began.

To cross-check the data relating to this assistance offered to Ukrainian refugees, even if they are not purely asylum seekers, the authorities also noted the “loss on renewal of temporary protection”, an unprecedented treatment given by Europeans to these displaced persons. persons and is renewed every six months.

Thus, from the beginning of September, Ukrainians began to gradually restore their documents, which gives the first picture of the return movement.

“This is in line with what we have seen since the beginning of this crisis, which is that some displaced persons from Ukraine are arriving with the aim of returning to their country as soon as possible, while others are traveling between France and Ukraine,” Didier said. Bream

That departure movement also coincides with a marked slowdown in daily arrivals, “an average of 180” in recent days, he continued.

For its part, the Ukrainian authorities “want the refugees to return, but not now, because they think that the winter will be harsh in Ukraine,” explained during a press conference in the National Assembly, MP Nicholas Metzdorf (Renaissance), who had just returned from of Ukraine, where he discussed with his Ukrainian colleagues the “return modalities” of these displaced persons.

“Ukrainians are afraid of the influx of repatriates, which will create problems. They tell us: ‘Why do we need you to keep them here, because we cannot receive them in optimal conditions,'” said the MP from New Caledonia.

If the flow of Ukrainian refugees arriving in France slows down, then their number on French territory “will continue to increase,” the deputy noted.

If there were 18,800 at the end of June, the number of Ukrainian students studying in France (from kindergarten to high school graduation) was 19,236 as of September 27, according to the latest data provided on Monday by the Ministry of Education, AFP reports.

“At the end of the year, France is expected to have about 120,000 or 130,000 people,” Metzdorf said.

About “107,000” displaced Ukrainians are still covered by asylum-seeker aid issued by the Bureau, said Didier Lechy, who estimated that Ukrainians have been paid 27 million euros a month since the war.