Refugee situation in Ukraine and the situation of temporary internally displaced persons in the border settlements of the Berehove district in 2022

Abstract

Russia's war aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 not only meant a cruel blow to Ukraine's political, social, and economic situation, but also had unprecedented negative impact on economic, political,cultural and demographic processes in Europe and in the world. With the beginning of the fighting, a significant number of civilians fled from the affected areas to safer destinations, mainly in western Ukraine. A significant part of the refugees went on to Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. However, many internally displaced people (IDP) in Transcarpathia do not want to leave Ukraine because one of their family members is involved in the fighting or they have nowhere to go or they simply cling to their country. Transcarpathian local governments and civil organizations provide temporary accommodation, food, and social services for these IDP through foreign support and the cooperation of international aid organizations. A signidcant number of IDP also arrived in the settlements inhabited by Transcarpathian Hungarians, despite the fact that in recent years there has been a strong anti-Hungarian campaign against the Transcarpathian Hungarian minority.

This study presents the results of a research carried out between May and August 2022. One of the primary objectives of it was to assess the number, gender and age composition of internal refugees arriving in Hungarian settlements in Transcarpathia. The aim of the research was also to ask those arriving in the Hungarian-inhabited settlements of Transcarpathia about their future plans, about the positive and negative experiences gained during their stay here, or what their opinion is about the multi-ethnicimage of the border area of Transcarpathia. The first part of the study provides a brief summary of the evolution of Ukraine's population over the past three decades and discusses the distribution of Ukrainian warrefugees within Europe and within thecountry's borders. In the second half of the study, the results of the questionnaire filled out by 215 internally displaced persons who arrived in the border settlements of the Berehove district are presented.