Half of Ukrainian refugees no longer plan to return home, Council of Europe says
Ukrainian refugees at a railway station (photo: Getty Images)
Today, Ukrainian refugees living abroad are evenly split on whether they plan to return home, 50/50, according to Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
"I recall in 2022 the survey data was indicating about a third, a third, a third, a third who want to go home, a third who want to stay in the host country, and a third who didn't know. More recently, it's about, it seems to be more like 50/50 in terms of who wants to go home and who wants to stay," the commissioner said.
He also added that the reasons for remaining outside Ukraine are very complex and diverse. O'Flaherty reached this conclusion after speaking with refugees himself.
"I've met many mothers who say, 'We have to stay because our kids are in school, our kids are in college, and we have to be here for them.' Others talk about how they've bedded down and made ties, they form family relationships in the host country, so it makes no sense anymore, this has become home," the commissioner said.
However, he said that a significant number of Ukrainians want to return home.
"They love their country, they want to be part of rebuilding it, or in the case of some of the older people I've met, they just want to spend their last days in the place that they know and that they love. So the reasons are very diverse," O'Flaherty concluded.
The number of Ukrainian refugees in European Union countries has increased again, according to statistics as of the beginning of 2026.
