Flemish Government Funding Continues to Support Ukrainian Refugees

Brussels – Flemish Government extends €38 million in funding for Ukrainian accommodations until March 2026, supporting the transition to regular housing.

As of July 31, 2024, there were 81,350 registered Ukrainian refugees in Belgium. The number of Ukrainian refugees in Belgium has grown rapidly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to statistics, 22% of Ukrainians in Belgium reside in Brussels, with Koekelberg being the most denoted municipality. 59% of Ukrainian refugees are in Flanders, 22% in Brussels, and 19% in Wallonia.

The Flemish Government has continued to provide financial backing for the public accommodation of Ukrainians until March 2026. A total of around €38 million will be allocated. Since the beginning of the war, local authorities have been able to obtain subsidies to create additional accommodation for temporarily displaced persons. This support was initially developed to last until March 2025. However, European ministers chose this summer to extend the temporary protection position until 4 March 2026.

In reaction, the Flemish Government will continue the needed funding until the end of March 2026. The funding will reinforce both the accommodation of displaced persons and their shift to regular housing when appropriate.

The purpose is for all local authorities to gradually phase out the interim accommodation they have specified by the end of March 2026. From the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 until the end of October 2024, just over 90,400 individuals, the extensive majority of them Ukrainians, have been granted temporary protection positions in Belgium, according to figures from the Belgian Immigration Office.