More and more people from the Ukraine are staying in Germany.

According to figures from the federal police, on Monday there were just over 50,000 people, on Wednesday around 80,000 and on Saturday more than 120,000 people.

Federal police officers walk through the trains coming from Poland, the Czech Republic or Austria and see who is on board.

But they don't really control the borders, that doesn't exist in the Schengen area.

So your numbers are just a guide.

Actually nobody knows how many people from Ukraine are here right now.

Because this refugee crisis is different from the one in 2015. This is mainly due to two legal differences.

First, the European Union has granted Ukrainians a protection status that is unique.

After the experiences of the Yugoslav wars, the EU issued a directive in 2001, the name of which consists of more than three dozen words and is therefore usually shortened but no less bureaucratically called the “Mass Influx Directive”.

It guarantees protection when a large number of people come at once.

So it's been around for a long time, but hasn't been used yet.

On March 4, however, the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council decided that there was a "mass influx" of people from Ukraine.

No asylum application necessary

The most important thing is that Ukrainian refugees do not have to apply for asylum to get protection.

This also means that the Union is no longer concerned with Dublin rules, which stipulate that the country where the refugees first arrived is always responsible.

That used to be a big topic, countries like Greece and Italy were overwhelmed by it.

Here it would be Poland in particular, which would probably not be able to process the hundreds of thousands of registrations adequately.

Ukrainians would also get asylum in the EU, but the "mass influx directive" gives them a different, faster and less bureaucratic status: they can stay in Germany for a year, can work here, and have the right to medical care and education.

And all this without a lengthy application for asylum at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

You only have to register with an immigration office.

The second major legal difference is that Ukrainians, unlike Afghans or Syrians, can stay in the EU for ninety days without a visa.

So anyone who enters the country now can do so, regardless of the war.

And independent of registration.

There are actually still a few requirements for these 90 days, but due to a ministerial regulation from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which has been in force since Wednesday, these no longer apply.

Also included were certain displaced persons who come from third countries but have stayed in Ukraine.

People are allowed to move freely in Europe

This may all sound very technical.

But these two differences are very important.

They make a distribution of people more difficult than in 2015. Actually, the BAMF should use the "Königsteiner key" to ensure that all federal states take in refugees, depending on their tax revenue and their population.

If too many people arrive in Berlin, they have to be taken where almost nobody is yet.