The East and the West: Regional Deservingness and Migration Aspirations of Displaced Ukrainians Living in Poland and the Czech Republic

Abstract

Scholars of deservingness emphasize the attitudes of host societies toward migrant communities and inter-ethnic stances of migrant groups but not in-group perceptions of deservingness. Based on interviews with Ukrainian citizens who received temporary protection in the Czech Republic and Poland after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we show that participants classified the fleeing of their fellow citizens from Western Ukraine as non-deserving of temporary protection. Migration from this region, minimally affected by the war, was seen as economic and voluntary not forced. As such, Ukrainians from this part of Ukraine could not vindicate their displacement. By contrast, those fleeing from Eastern Ukraine were perceived as worthy, since their migration was “truly” forced due to the active war, and therefore deserving of temporary protection. However, most Ukrainians displaced in the Czech Republic and Poland are from Western Ukraine and thus, from the perspective of participants, they do not deserve temporary protection. This research suggests that regional aspects are important when studying the “deserving” or “non-deserving” migration aspirations of Ukrainian beneficiaries of the Temporary Protection Directive.