Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, millions of Ukrainians have found themselves outside their country. Poland became one of the main evacuation destinations, receiving the largest number of forced migrants. During the first years of the war, the Polish state supported these people with various forms of assistance — from free housing in temporary accommodation centers to social benefits and integration programs, but starting in the summer of 2025, the Polish government is changing its approach to Ukrainian refugees.
The increase in the flow: why there are more Ukrainians
One of the decisions of the Polish government was the gradual closing of asylums for refugees. From November 1, the new rules will allow only certain categories of people to live in collective accommodation centers: people with disabilities, the elderly, and pregnant women. For everyone else, the opportunity to get a roof over their head will disappear.
This decision of the government caused serious concern both among the Ukrainians themselves and among the organizations that provide them with support. Among those who see the situation from the inside is Vera Medvedeva, an expert on legalization and co-founder of the “Home is where you are” foundation. Her organization works with refugees on a daily basis, helps with document processing, finding housing and employment. In an interview with Svitlana Myalik in the program “I am in Poland” she told, to what consequences these innovations can lead.
According to Vira Medvedeva, since the beginning of summer, the number of appeals to the fund has increased significantly. People continue to flee from the war, and it is not only about the frontline regions – even in the western part of Ukraine, more and more families are forced to leave their homes. Rocket attacks, damage to critical infrastructure, destruction of homes and a lack of basic security are forcing thousands to seek protection abroad.
According to the expert, “a lot of requests” come from those who are coming now. Often these are families with children, people who have no connections or support in Poland and are therefore completely dependent on state or charitable resources. In these conditions, even a temporary place in the accommodation center becomes critically important, because not all new arrivals are able to immediately find a job or rent an apartment.
There are almost no empty beds left
The situation with shelters is complicated by the fact that there are fewer and fewer free places. The foundation headed by Medvedev receives calls every day from people looking for temporary accommodation, but the answers are mostly the same – there are no places.
“Literally yesterday, we called the center in the Lublin Voivodeship, there is a shelter with 400 places, and they said that they also get calls from small shelters that will soon be closed.” she says.
According to her, the situation is complicated by the fact that many refugees have not yet had time to adapt: they have not found a job, have not received a temporary residence permit, and do not have a stable income or savings. As a result, dozens of people may simply end up on the street.
Changes in the law and the government’s response
According to the new draft law adopted by the Polish government, every Ukrainian will have the right to free accommodation in the accommodation center only for three months after arrival. At the end of this period – if the person is not included in the list of “vulnerable categories” – he will have to either find housing on his own or leave the shelter.
Government spokesman Adam Shlapka, commenting on the innovation, emphasized that aid is transformed according to needs. However, such a “transformation” puts hundreds of newly arrived Ukrainians in an extremely vulnerable position, who physically do not have time in three months not only to adapt to the new environment, but also to go through all the stages of bureaucratic legalization: get a PESEL number, register in the health care system, find a job or kindergarten.
Foundation “Home where you are”: about experience from the inside
The employees of the fund do not reduce their activities only to legal consultations. They work with living stories: every day they hear how a family with children spends the night at a train station, how a single mother looks for a place to stay in a foreign city, how elderly people lose their rented accommodation due to price increases. The lack of affordable places to live is just one symptom of the overall crisis arising from the simultaneous increase in the number of refugees and the reduction of government support programs.
The Foundation has repeatedly asked local administrations not to close existing shelters until the situation stabilizes. But, as Medvedeva notes, these appeals often do not have the proper effect, since decision-making is centralized and focused not on the humanitarian, but on the financial and administrative dimension.
Vira Medvedeva especially emphasizes that the first months of stay in Poland are crucial. It is during this period that most people try to understand the new rules, collect documents, and find at least a temporary job. But if at this moment the roof over their heads is taken away from them, it deprives them of the chance for gradual integration and makes them even more vulnerable.
“People remain without opportunities for further residence, because they have not yet passed the adaptation period, have not found a job and do not have a financial cushion.” – she emphasizes.
What’s next
The rules will change from November. And those who come to Poland today in the hope of finding shelter may soon find themselves on the streets. Charitable initiatives alone cannot compensate for the lack of government support, and the commercial housing market is inaccessible to many new arrivals. Under these conditions, the formula “adapt yourself” can turn into a social disaster. Among the questions already buzzing among volunteers is whether the shelters will disappear, and how many people will be left homeless when they do.
