Figures released by the Minister for Justice have shown that the number of Ukrainian men aged 18-30 arriving in Ireland monthly increased seven-fold from August to September of this year, with concerns about conscription seen as a factor.
While an average of around 100 men in that age bracket arrived each month from January to August in 2025, that number soared to 839 in September, a seven-fold increase on the 124 who arrived in August.
The number of Ukranian men between the ages of 18 and 30 years who have applied for temporary protection in Ireland in each month from January 2025 to date is as follows:
The Department of Justice said that “in common with most other European countries, Ireland seen an increase in arrivals from Ukraine in recent months. One of the factors contributing to this rise appears to be changes in Ukrainian law which now permit men aged 18 to 22 to leave Ukraine.”
It is believed that the number of young Ukrainian men leaving the country are rising as “growing numbers seek to avoid conscription to the front lines of the country’s war against Russia”.
Ukrainian men aged under 60 had not been permitted to go abroad since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, but those rules were eased by President Volodymyr Zelensky in August of this year. The age of conscription in the country was lowered from 27 to 25 in 2024, but many families chose to send their sons abroad as they approach their eighteenth birthday for fear that they may be forced to serve at the front.
The Ukrainian decision to loosen the ban on travelling has led to salso irked some of Ukraine’s neighbours, where it has been seized upon by parties that oppose migration and want a softer line on Russia, and questioned by politicians who support Kyiv but are toughening their line on refugee issues under pressure from populist rivals.
“I asked the Ukrainian president to ensure that young men from Ukraine in particular do not come to Germany in ever-increasing numbers, but rather serve in their own country. They are needed there,” German chancellor Friedrich Merz said after speaking to Mr Zelenskiy on Thursday.
The Department of Justice pointed out that the highest number of temporary protection beneficiaries in Ireland continues to be women and children.
The figures were released to Independent TD, Carol Nolan, who asked the Minister to state the number of Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 30 who have applied for temporary protection in Ireland in each month from January 2025 to date.
“Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection hold temporary permission to remain in Ireland, renewable annually for as long as the Directive remains in force,” the Department said.
On 15 July 2025, the Justice and Home Affairs Council extended Temporary Protection by a year until March 2027, providing certainty for beneficiaries who can continue to avail of the protections that the Directive provides.
Under Article 2, the Temporary Protection Directive applies to the following groups of people who have had to flee Ukraine due to the invasion by Russia:
a) Ukrainian nationals who were residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022;
b) Nationals of a third country (other than Ukraine) or a stateless person who would have benefited from international protection (for example: Refugee status) or an equivalent national protection status in Ukraine and were residing there before 24 February 2022;
c) Family members of persons covered by a) and b), where their family already existed in Ukraine, prior to 24 February.