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Current Ukrainian migration to Czechia - refuge for economic migrants rather than for refugees

Publication at Faculty of Science |
2016

Abstract

A large scale of external migration was typical of Ukrainian society for a long time following the collapse of the USSR. Back in 2005-2008, the most popular countries included Russia, Italy and Czechia, whereas in 2010-2012 the top two destinations were Russia and Poland.

The armed conflict which has started in Ukraine in spring 2014 brought radical changes in both political and economic situation of the country and hence acts as new push factor for migrants. This paper examines the changes in migration patterns of Ukrainian citizens in the case of Czechia, where they represent one quarter of migrants.

The obtained findings are based on large qualitative and quantitative survey held from June 2015 to June 2016. Some new migratory patterns have been observed: the so-called "Polish route", and as for the structure of the inflow - now it is mainly young people, students and family members of those who are already in Czechia, more of whom have started coming from Ukraine, while the danger of the military conflict and the related dramatic atmosphere in the respective regions and the deteriorating socioeconomic situation are probably the two most important reasons for emigration.

Another important trend is then the shift from an originally almost exclusively temporary, transnational circulation mode of migration towards the mode within which migrants more often settle down.