Ukraine - Migration and Return

What challenges do returning and internally displaced Ukrainians face? What are refugees' aspirations, and how can policy address the needs of both returnees and receiving communities to boost development and cohesion? To find out, bicc is co-leading a research project to deliver evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and practitioners.

The key objective of this collaborative research project is to provide policymakers and stakeholders in Ukraine with evidence-based policy recommendations on designing a transnational reintegration-related information and counselling service for returning Ukrainians.

Our research focuses on studying the return of Ukrainian refugees, including return intentions, actual return, predictors of return and key patterns of return migration. We also analyse existing support networks for displaced Ukrainians, both in Ukraine and abroad, and identify key needs of returnees and IDPs alongside gaps in current support systems. Additionally, we examine how the return of Ukrainian refugees impacts social cohesion in Ukraine and how successful reintegration can strengthen it.

To achieve this, the project employs qualitative and quantitative methods, analysing both existing and newly collected data. bicc is responsible for conducting in-depth interviews with Ukrainian refugees in the Republic of Moldova and Germany as well as—with the support of bicc’s research partners—with returnees and internally displaced persons in Ukraine.

ifo Institut – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München e. V. (Project Coordinator)

Centre for Economic Strategy (CES)

Kyiv Institute for Global Studies

Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPIE)

Terra U