Over half of the Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands were in work last year, a rise of over 10% compared to 2022, latest figures from the national statistics agency CBS have shown.

On November 1, some two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some 102,870 Ukrainian refugees, who are given an automatic right to work under a European directive, had registered in the Netherlands. Some 78,000 are aged between 15 and 65, of whom 55% are in work, compared to 44% a year earlier.

Ukrainian refugees between 25 and 49 are most often in paid employment, with 59%. Both men and women work to an equal extent, the figures show.

Most work 35 hours a week and are employed via staffing agencies on temporary contracts.

Pro-countryside party BBB recently suggested sending Ukrainian nationals back to parts of their country which are currently untouched by war.

“We cannot house everyone,” BBB parliamentarian Mona Keijzer was reported as saying during a debate on the government’s budget for dealing with refugees.