Preparing for long term stay or fast return? The Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the largest yearly influx of refugees in Norway to date.
Having been granted temporary collective protection, Ukrainian refugees' future length of stay in Norway is uncertain. This gives rise to a key dilemma for national policymakers, local actors and Ukrainian refugees alike, which UKRINT seeks to address:
Should the aim be long-term strategies to re-qualify or upskill Ukrainian refugees in line with demands in host country labour markets? Or should the strategy focus on providing these refugees with (any kind of) rapid employment while they wait for an uncertain return?
More about the project
What we will do:
This dilemma and the effects of applying a short- versus long-term approach to their labour-market integration will be investigated from macro-level (national policymakers), meso-level (local communities) and micro-level (Ukrainian refugees) perspectives, and their interplay.
The project will both build on and contribute to theories on uncertainty and liminality with regards to conflict-induced displacement. The project has a dual comparative approach.
First, we conduct a cross-national comparison between Norway and Sweden, two most-similar countries which have adopted very different policies towards Ukrainian refugees. The project will look into the effects of these differences on labour-market integration outcomes.
Second, we conduct in-depth analysis of how challenges, practices, and results differ among municipalities in Norway, in order to identify good labour-market integration practices.
