With the EU set to decide whether to extend the special protection status granted to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, Germany's interior minister, Nancy Faeser, is pushing for the status to be continued for an extra year. If the EU decides not to extend the protection, it will run out at the end of March 2024.

Since the start of Russia's war with Ukraine in February 2022, more than a million Ukrainian citizens have made a new home in Germany. More than five million have fled their country and found places to stay across Europe and the UK.

Also read: The refugees from Ukraine who are now in limbo in the Netherlands

Solidarity for Ukraine

"Together we have saved so many lives by offering solidarity to Ukraine," Faeser told a press conference. "We need to continue this help for as long as this awful war continues."

The special rules for Ukrainian citizens allow them to flee to EU countries and the UK without having to apply for asylum. They are then entitled to a kind of residency permit and rights similar to those granted to recognized refugees.

Ukrainians are also allowed to travel back and forth to their country without the fear of losing their special status. They are allowed to work, claim health insurance and send their children to school.

Also read: Refugee arrivals prompt debate over right to asylum in Germany

The special protection status has already been extended twice. EU interior ministers are due to make a decision on the current extension proposal in two weeks. The president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, declared her support for a continuation earlier this week.

Faeser criticized on migration

The interior minister this week faced renewed criticism over her approach to migration after the government announced that it would stop taking asylum seekers from Italy under the Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism, an EU program aimed at easing the pressure on the Mediterranean countries of first entry.

Karl Kopp, the head of the European department at Pro Asyl, called the decision "irresponsible" in light of what he said was a humanitarian crisis in Lampedusa.

He told the German media network RND that Europe should show the same support to those trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean as it had shown to Ukrainians.

"We need solidarity and humanity," said Kopp. "Those who don’t deal with this in the light of European values will lose the idea of Europe itself."