On 19 December, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Action Plan for the Provision of Support to the Civilian Population of Ukraine in the Republic of Latvia in 2024 (the plan) to ensure the provision of assistance to Ukrainian civilians and to continue the assistance measures implemented in 2022 and 2023 in 2024. The per capita level of support available to Ukrainian civilians is based on the guiding principle that the level of services and support to be provided to Ukrainian civilians should not exceed the level of support available to the Latvian population.
The plan applies to both Ukrainian civilians already residing in Latvia and those arriving in 2024.
The plan sets out seventy-five measures to be implemented by state institutions, local authorities, non-governmental organizations and businesses in ten lines of action. Ukrainian civilians are provided with residence and the rights to issue employment documents, information provision services, primary support for accommodation and food, social assistance, financial support measures, access to education and healthcare, support measures to promote employment, language training, cultural orientation and other integration measures, and the rights and interests of minors arriving without parental accompaniment.
According to the data on the entry of Ukrainian civilians in Latvia in 2023, it is assumed for the development of the plan and financial calculations that approximately 12 000 Ukrainian civilians are expected to re-enter Latvia in 2024.
The implementation of the action plan is currently planned at 70 million euros, with the possibility of increasing this amount.
Section 1 of the Law on Assistance to Ukrainian Civilians stipulates that the assistance provided for in the Law shall be provided to the Ukrainian civilians during the armed conflict provoked by the Russian Federation.
Hostilities in Ukraine remain active, with attacks on civilians and infrastructure taking place throughout the territory of Ukraine. The risk of intensification of the armed conflict and of a significant escalation remains high. The Russian Federation is expected to continue its efforts to destroy civilian infrastructure as the winter season resumes, thus making it more difficult to provide the primary needs of the civilian population. The International Organization for Migration estimates that there were 5.1 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine as of 25 May 2023. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that as of June 2023 there were 17 million people in Ukraine in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Therefore, it is expected that safe return to Ukraine in 2024 will not be possible for most of the beneficiaries of temporary protection accommodated in European countries, including Latvia. Almost four million beneficiaries of temporary protection have been granted asylum in the Member States of the European Union.
More than 32 000 Ukrainian civilians are currently registered in Latvia and receive assistance from local authorities, while more than 61 000 Ukrainians have been issued with temporary residence permits and long-stay D visas.
The measures included in the action plan will continue to be coordinated by the established Civil Protection Operational Control Centre, headed by the State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Dimitrijs Trofimovs.