Ukrainian Forced Migrants in the Czech Republic: Situation and Living Conditions

Abstract

The article describes the living conditions, situation and spatial placement of Ukrainian forced migrants in the Czech Republic. As a result of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, almost 370,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war received temporary shelter in the Czech Republic. The research methodology is based on the results of a sociological survey, the purpose of which was to establish the living conditions of refugees in the Czech Republic and their attitudes towards further stay. It has been established that the majority of migrants are concentrated in the capital (Prague), Central Bohemia, Moravian-Silesian and South Moravian regions. Among the migrants, natives from the western regions of Ukraine and the temporarily occupied territories of the south and east predominate almost equally. The key aspects in choosing a place of accommodation were cities where one of the family members worked or the reason was the big cities. Although half of the forced migrants are children, and 4/5 of the adult population are women, almost 70,000 migrants have already started working in official jobs. Despite this level of adaptation, 80% of refugees are determined to return home. Of course, the language barrier was the main problem during adaptation among the immigrants, but the majority are satisfied with the living conditions and the attitude of the Czechs towards them. Ukrainian labour migrants performed a fairly significant economic function in the Czech Republic even before the war, so the mass influx of forced migrants significantly revived the labour market and, due to social benefits, affected the economic situation. The economic effect of refugees is always largely negative, but in a rather short period it is compensated by the rapid adaptation of Ukrainians and the filling of certain sections of the labour market.