Now fewer Ukrainians will automatically receive the right to asylum in Norway, DPA reported , referring to the Norwegian government.
Six regions in western Ukraine are now considered safe by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration. Asylum applications for people from these regions will now be processed under the same rules as applications from other countries.
The government said the change would allow Norway to better help Ukrainians in more urgent need of protection.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, most people coming to Norway from Ukraine have received the status of "temporary collective protection", which means that their applications are not considered individually.
Asylum applications from people coming from regions considered safe will now be considered individually.
Norway, which has a population of almost 5.5 million people, has accepted 85,000 people from Ukraine since February 2022, DPA noted. About 10% of the Ukrainians who arrived in Norway this year are from the six declared safe western regions.