The situation of refugees from Ukraine is being studied by scholars from the Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM) in Poznań and universities in Kyiv and Lviv. The first part of the research is concluded with a report ‘Public perception and integration of refugees from Ukraine’.
The researchers surveyed more than 500 refugees in Poland, Germany and Ireland.
The interviewers asked about their needs, concerns and plans. “It is interesting to realise that people like us are travelling in extremis and have to make critical decisions. We assumed that their plans can change, but the answers obtained allow us to partly predict, and not just diagnose, the situation we all suddenly found ourselves in”, says Prof Jakub Isański of the Faculty of Sociology at the Adam Mickiewicz University.
The survey shows that refugees arrived with a wide range of skills and qualifications. 14% of respondents were entrepreneurs or IT professionals. One in four was previously a scientist, engineer, health or education specialist. Many respondents have labour or service skills, which have been in high demand in Poland over the past few years.
Ukrainian refugees in their new place consider the following to be the most important: finding a job, material assistance, renting a permanent flat, medical assistance and a course in the local language.
In the second part of the study, the researchers will conduct in-depth interviews and observe how newcomers from Ukraine try to find their way in the new place. In the third step, it is planned to compare the initial picture of the stay with the vision after a few months.
“Although it is a crisis and tragic situation but the whole refugee experience can also be seen as a basis for building friendly neighbourly relations, emphasise the researchers in the summary of the first part of their research. The first wave of refugees and the public reactions in the host countries show the enormous potential of human kindness, hospitality and willingness to communicate”, add the authors of the report.
Adrian Andrzejewski