Among the effects of the war in Ukraine, the diaspora of its population
is undoubtedly the most underestimated and least analyzed in relation to
the effects it has produced and will produce over time. Even before the
outbreak of the war, Ukraine was a land of emigration to the West, as
was happening to an even greater extent from all Eastern European
countries. Those who left the country, migrating to the Mediterranean
countries where welfare structures for the elderly are more lacking,
were mainly women, while the male workforce was largely made up of
seasonal migration almost across the border with Germany. This migration
was mainly employed in agriculture in the East German states.
The war caused a massive exodus, more than a quarter of the country's
entire population, which in a very short period of time expelled more
than 2 million people towards Russia and around 10 million Ukrainians
towards the West.
To manage this huge mass of population, EU countries have resorted to
the application of Directive 2001/55/EC of the Council of Europe, issued
after the Balkan wars, which establishes minimum standards for the
granting of temporary protection. This is a measure of the EU Council,
which grants exceptional temporary protection to displaced persons or
victims of natural disasters, which in this case applies to Ukrainian
citizens residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022, the date of the
beginning of the Russian invasion. This protection includes rights such
as a residence permit, access to the labor market and housing, medical
care and access to education for minors. The duration of this protection
has been extended several times, initially for one year, then for a
further year, currently until 4 March 2026. Residence permits for
temporary protection can be renewed and converted into permits for work
reasons.
The distribution of refugees
As was obvious, in a first phase the exodus of the Ukrainian population
poured into the neighboring countries, so much so that both Romania and
Poland, like Moldova, can be considered both transit countries and
countries of second settlement, also due to their proximity to the
border with the mother country. Many Ukrainians chose to settle in these
countries to continue to have relations with the country of origin and
develop trade and economic activities, shelter from war events. However,
the majority of Ukrainians sought and found refuge well beyond the
border countries, finding hospitality above all in Germany, while Poland
can be considered both a transit country and a country of new
significant settlement.
To better understand the characteristics and identity of the phenomenon,
it is good to examine some data relating to the different countries,
underlining the characteristics and nature of the provisions adopted in
favor of refugees, also in relation to the possibilities of finding work
and building a new stability. In fact, one of the characteristics of the
exodus, also due to the persistent duration of the conflict, is that the
new settlement increasingly takes on a permanent and permanent character.
Approximately 5.4 million Ukrainians have entered Romania since the
beginning of the war, of whom over 86 thousand have remained in the
country as refugees, mainly women and children. Others have continued
their journey to other EU countries, such as Germany, France and Italy,
Spain or going overseas, where they have benefited from temporary
protection.
Poland has welcomed a large number of Ukrainian refugees, an estimated
1.5 million, using EU funding, but the assistance program has gone much
further thanks to allocations from the Polish state, so in reality the
real number of the hosted population is unknown.
In the United Kingdom, Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed through the
"Ukraine Family Scheme" and other support programs. The United Kingdom
has also offered rent allowances and financial support to those who have
hosted refugees.
There are currently over 254,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK, and the
government has extended their ability to stay for another 18 months.
There is also a program that helps those who decide to host a family
fleeing war; lately the demand has significantly exceeded the supply. It
is important to note that the hospitality of Ukrainians occurs in
derogation and in contrast to the rejections adopted against refugees
from every other country in the world.
In Italy, over 175,000 Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and minors, have
been welcomed with temporary protection status. Many of them, around
86%, plan to stay in the medium or long term.
Integration is supported by projects such as PUOI, which offer
orientation courses, job placements and internships. However, it is
estimated that the number of Ukrainians present in Italy is at least
double, since those who were previously present in Italy for work
reasons in more or less official forms and who saw their position
regularized after the outbreak of the war must be added to the refugees.
In Spain, there are over 170,000 Ukrainian refugees who are
beneficiaries of temporary protection. Integration, however, is not
easy: over half do not have an address, and the percentage of Ukrainians
who have found work is 15%, much lower than the European average of 40%.
Spain has also regularized Ukrainians who reside without documents,
offering them temporary protection. Temporary protection permits can be
renewed until March 2026 and converted into work permits. There are
236,000 who have had their residence permits in the country extended
because they were already present in Spain before the war.
A separate discussion must be made for Germany, where approximately 1.2
million Ukrainian refugees currently live, 63% of whom are women. Around
360,000 are children, who cannot work. Precisely because of their
growing number, refugees will no longer receive the Bürgergeld (social
benefit aimed at people able to work, who are in conditions of poverty,
an instrument therefore in some ways comparable to the citizen's
income), normally reserved for permanent residents in Germany. From the
new Government they will instead receive the Asylleistungen (asylum
subsidy) which guarantees less money. Based on the Bürgergeld, singles
received 563 euros per month, while asylum seekers are entitled to 122
euros less and receive 441 euros, via a payment card. Refugees receive
less money if they share accommodation, even if the accommodation costs
are still covered. The Bürgergeld is financed by taxes from the federal
government, while asylum support comes from the Länder and the
Municipalities. This change in legislation came about under the new
government precisely because of the controversy that arose in relation
to the policy of support for refugees that has sparked so many protests
among voters, so much so that it is one of the main reasons behind the
Ampel coalition's decision to grant refugees from Ukraine residency
status, because in this way refugees can receive work permits more
quickly and weigh less on the coffers of the state and the Länder.
However, it is currently unclear whether the classification of
Ukrainians as asylum seekers will go further and have an impact on their
right to work in Germany. According to the regulatory framework for
asylum seekers, refugees cannot work for the first three months and,
after that, they face further restrictions. The Ukrainian presence fuels
consensus in Germany on the so-called re-immigration policy that
provides for the rejection of migrants in their countries of origin.
On the other hand, only 13,000 Ukrainian refugees have applied for
international protection in France. The same order of magnitude is
supported by much smaller countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark,
the Baltic countries, Portugal: the exodus towards Canada, the United
States and Australia is also of some consistency.
Temporary protection and the principle of equality
The institution of temporary protection, born from the bad conscience of
the West, aware of having produced with its devastating interventions in
the life of peoples unresolved problems of coexistence - it is no
coincidence that the EU directive was issued following the Balkan crises
- has not failed to raise serious problems in relation to the violation
of the principle of equality, introducing disparities in treatment
within the populations of European countries, especially since it has
intersected and interacted with the parallel phenomenon of migration
towards the continent of populations from all parts of the world.
Support measures for populations in particular conditions of hardship
appear understandable and bearable where there are support institutions
for the entire population in favor of that most disadvantaged part that
feels the economic and social problems with greater discomfort, but they
can be extremely discriminatory where
the support is provided in a situation in which a most disadvantaged
part of the native population remains without any form of support.
It so happens that in Italy the application of the European Community
directive in favor of Ukrainian refugees coincided with the almost
contemporary and contemporary suppression of the citizen's income. This
gives rise to an understandable reaction of social envy for a category
of people who appear to be particularly and unjustifiably protected,
especially if one considers that at the same time policies of rejection
are being adopted against clandestine and irregular emigration of people
who reach the country, following what is known as the Balkan route,
coming from the Middle East and the South of the world, or among those
who arrive in Italy by crossing the sea.
In other words, the Ukrainian diaspora fuels and further complicates the
migration problem, not only in Italy but with particular relevance in
Romania and Germany, where it has contributed to the shift of the
electorate to the right, in favor of those parties that oppose the war
in Ukraine, its financing and therefore promise to put an end to the
provision of resources to this segment of the population.
It is thought-provoking that European governments are increasingly
adopting policies to contain emigration from the global south, invoking
cultural diversity and the skin color of migrants as an element of
differentiation, while leaving the doors open to the deployment of
solidarity and acceptance towards Ukrainian populations. The suspicion
arises that migration from Ukraine is viewed more favorably, since it is
a population coming from another European country, of a culture and
religion that is supposedly similar and, above all, characterized by a
skin pigmentation that allows for easier integration and a lack of
immediate recognition in terms of different origins. The profound racism
that characterizes European society and also permeates legislation and
translates into different standards that in fact create the legal bases
for discrimination is essentially evident in political and collective
behavior. The war in Ukraine thus becomes one of the ways in which
European states are replenishing their populations, recruiting those
portions of citizens who are missing due to the demographic decline of
European states, afflicted by an almost exponential decline in the birth
rate, through the introduction of a racial drift. The exodus induced by
the war has caused a part of the Ukrainian people to take a path of no
return that leads to the dilution of their identity.
However, this choice is raising growing resistance, so much so that the
news of these days is that the EU has decided not to extend the customs
exemption on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, which in
fact entails the introduction of customs duties starting from June 6:
this was announced by the representative of the European Commission for
Agriculture Balazs Uvari.
The suicidal politics of the left-wing parties and the war in Ukraine
The parties of the reformist left. uncritically assuming the defense of
Ukraine as an attacked country, they have been victims of a hasty and
superficial analysis of the causes of the conflict that instead should
be sought in the need to maintain a geostrategic balance between the
different areas of influence but also keeping in mind the founding
values on which the European Union itself was built.
Looking deeper into this aspect of the problem, we note that one of the
key principles of the togetherness of the European peoples who have
joined the Union is the acceptance of the principle of
self-determination of the peoples who have agreed to be part of it. This
principle has universal value and has been invoked when the Union itself
has deemed it suitable and consistent with its own interests, that is,
in the case of the Balkan crisis and the dissolution of the former
Yugoslavia, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Balkan
peoples and their request to recognize their future in the common
destiny of the European peoples. However, the request for
self-determination of the eastern provinces of Ukraine, of Donbass in
particular, has not received the same attention; indeed, their
aspiration to self-determination and autonomy was considered a serious
violation of law and an illegitimate uprising against the central State
and its integrity. It is worth remembering that the European Union did
not hesitate to intervene in the Balkan crisis by promoting the process
of self-determination of the peoples of the Balkans, while in this case
it did the opposite. Similarly, rather than supporting the centralist
policies of the Ukrainian nationalist government, the parties of the
left should have, consistently with their political positions, supported
the principle of self-determination of peoples, recognizing that similar
conflicts are resolved with the recognition of the autonomy of the
territories. We cannot ask peoples to adopt double standards and to
recognize the principle of autonomy in response to the requests of the
Balkan populations, while denying it to the populations that inhabit the
territories east of the Dnipro and in Crimea.
The virtuous case of Trentino Alto Adige
Our country has also had to face the problem of a part of the national
territory in which separatist tendencies predominated, fueled by a
difference in language and traditions. We are referring to Trentino Alto
Adige, but also to the Aosta Valley, regions for which the Italian legal
system, compatible with the European one, has provided and provides for
broad autonomies, which allow these communities to live in harmony
within the national State and within a broader community of States. A
similar solution could have been found for the eastern provinces of Ukraine.
Once the problem of the autonomy of the territories and populations was
correctly set, the other complex issues that the conflict brings with it
should and could have been addressed from a different perspective,
taking into account the interests of the parties in conflict, among
other things avoiding the successful completion of operations of
scavenging by subjects, third parties such as the United States and
Great Britain, who had every interest in destabilizing the relationship
of exchange and collaboration between manufacturing and energy on which
the partnership between European industry and the Russian economy was
based. It should also be remembered that a non-marginal aspect of the
Ukrainian crisis is closely connected to the conflict entirely internal
to Orthodoxy that opposes the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the
Patriarchate of Moscow, which compete for hegemony over the Orthodox
ecumene. This conflict that led to the establishment of a schismatic
Orthodox Church in Ukraine and to religious persecution appears, if
possible, to be of greater complexity in identifying possible solutions
due to the geopolitical implications that it brings with it. The
inability to grasp the set of problems connected to the crisis depends
on the lack of ideal and scientific guidelines in the left-wing parties
and on the abandonment of historical materialist analysis capable of
providing a rational and coherent reading of reality taking into account
the class interest and the struggle of proletarian internationalism, in
the interest of the people, social justice and equality. Using the
categories of the class struggle would have avoided falling into the
trap designed by the international right, avoiding providing the reasons
to allow a shift to the right of the electorate of which we all pay the
consequences.
Gianni Cimbalo
https://www.ucadi.org/2025/06/22/diaspora-ucraina-e-destra-europea/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
is undoubtedly the most underestimated and least analyzed in relation to
the effects it has produced and will produce over time. Even before the
outbreak of the war, Ukraine was a land of emigration to the West, as
was happening to an even greater extent from all Eastern European
countries. Those who left the country, migrating to the Mediterranean
countries where welfare structures for the elderly are more lacking,
were mainly women, while the male workforce was largely made up of
seasonal migration almost across the border with Germany. This migration
was mainly employed in agriculture in the East German states.
The war caused a massive exodus, more than a quarter of the country's
entire population, which in a very short period of time expelled more
than 2 million people towards Russia and around 10 million Ukrainians
towards the West.
To manage this huge mass of population, EU countries have resorted to
the application of Directive 2001/55/EC of the Council of Europe, issued
after the Balkan wars, which establishes minimum standards for the
granting of temporary protection. This is a measure of the EU Council,
which grants exceptional temporary protection to displaced persons or
victims of natural disasters, which in this case applies to Ukrainian
citizens residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022, the date of the
beginning of the Russian invasion. This protection includes rights such
as a residence permit, access to the labor market and housing, medical
care and access to education for minors. The duration of this protection
has been extended several times, initially for one year, then for a
further year, currently until 4 March 2026. Residence permits for
temporary protection can be renewed and converted into permits for work
reasons.
The distribution of refugees
As was obvious, in a first phase the exodus of the Ukrainian population
poured into the neighboring countries, so much so that both Romania and
Poland, like Moldova, can be considered both transit countries and
countries of second settlement, also due to their proximity to the
border with the mother country. Many Ukrainians chose to settle in these
countries to continue to have relations with the country of origin and
develop trade and economic activities, shelter from war events. However,
the majority of Ukrainians sought and found refuge well beyond the
border countries, finding hospitality above all in Germany, while Poland
can be considered both a transit country and a country of new
significant settlement.
To better understand the characteristics and identity of the phenomenon,
it is good to examine some data relating to the different countries,
underlining the characteristics and nature of the provisions adopted in
favor of refugees, also in relation to the possibilities of finding work
and building a new stability. In fact, one of the characteristics of the
exodus, also due to the persistent duration of the conflict, is that the
new settlement increasingly takes on a permanent and permanent character.
Approximately 5.4 million Ukrainians have entered Romania since the
beginning of the war, of whom over 86 thousand have remained in the
country as refugees, mainly women and children. Others have continued
their journey to other EU countries, such as Germany, France and Italy,
Spain or going overseas, where they have benefited from temporary
protection.
Poland has welcomed a large number of Ukrainian refugees, an estimated
1.5 million, using EU funding, but the assistance program has gone much
further thanks to allocations from the Polish state, so in reality the
real number of the hosted population is unknown.
In the United Kingdom, Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed through the
"Ukraine Family Scheme" and other support programs. The United Kingdom
has also offered rent allowances and financial support to those who have
hosted refugees.
There are currently over 254,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK, and the
government has extended their ability to stay for another 18 months.
There is also a program that helps those who decide to host a family
fleeing war; lately the demand has significantly exceeded the supply. It
is important to note that the hospitality of Ukrainians occurs in
derogation and in contrast to the rejections adopted against refugees
from every other country in the world.
In Italy, over 175,000 Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and minors, have
been welcomed with temporary protection status. Many of them, around
86%, plan to stay in the medium or long term.
Integration is supported by projects such as PUOI, which offer
orientation courses, job placements and internships. However, it is
estimated that the number of Ukrainians present in Italy is at least
double, since those who were previously present in Italy for work
reasons in more or less official forms and who saw their position
regularized after the outbreak of the war must be added to the refugees.
In Spain, there are over 170,000 Ukrainian refugees who are
beneficiaries of temporary protection. Integration, however, is not
easy: over half do not have an address, and the percentage of Ukrainians
who have found work is 15%, much lower than the European average of 40%.
Spain has also regularized Ukrainians who reside without documents,
offering them temporary protection. Temporary protection permits can be
renewed until March 2026 and converted into work permits. There are
236,000 who have had their residence permits in the country extended
because they were already present in Spain before the war.
A separate discussion must be made for Germany, where approximately 1.2
million Ukrainian refugees currently live, 63% of whom are women. Around
360,000 are children, who cannot work. Precisely because of their
growing number, refugees will no longer receive the Bürgergeld (social
benefit aimed at people able to work, who are in conditions of poverty,
an instrument therefore in some ways comparable to the citizen's
income), normally reserved for permanent residents in Germany. From the
new Government they will instead receive the Asylleistungen (asylum
subsidy) which guarantees less money. Based on the Bürgergeld, singles
received 563 euros per month, while asylum seekers are entitled to 122
euros less and receive 441 euros, via a payment card. Refugees receive
less money if they share accommodation, even if the accommodation costs
are still covered. The Bürgergeld is financed by taxes from the federal
government, while asylum support comes from the Länder and the
Municipalities. This change in legislation came about under the new
government precisely because of the controversy that arose in relation
to the policy of support for refugees that has sparked so many protests
among voters, so much so that it is one of the main reasons behind the
Ampel coalition's decision to grant refugees from Ukraine residency
status, because in this way refugees can receive work permits more
quickly and weigh less on the coffers of the state and the Länder.
However, it is currently unclear whether the classification of
Ukrainians as asylum seekers will go further and have an impact on their
right to work in Germany. According to the regulatory framework for
asylum seekers, refugees cannot work for the first three months and,
after that, they face further restrictions. The Ukrainian presence fuels
consensus in Germany on the so-called re-immigration policy that
provides for the rejection of migrants in their countries of origin.
On the other hand, only 13,000 Ukrainian refugees have applied for
international protection in France. The same order of magnitude is
supported by much smaller countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark,
the Baltic countries, Portugal: the exodus towards Canada, the United
States and Australia is also of some consistency.
Temporary protection and the principle of equality
The institution of temporary protection, born from the bad conscience of
the West, aware of having produced with its devastating interventions in
the life of peoples unresolved problems of coexistence - it is no
coincidence that the EU directive was issued following the Balkan crises
- has not failed to raise serious problems in relation to the violation
of the principle of equality, introducing disparities in treatment
within the populations of European countries, especially since it has
intersected and interacted with the parallel phenomenon of migration
towards the continent of populations from all parts of the world.
Support measures for populations in particular conditions of hardship
appear understandable and bearable where there are support institutions
for the entire population in favor of that most disadvantaged part that
feels the economic and social problems with greater discomfort, but they
can be extremely discriminatory where
the support is provided in a situation in which a most disadvantaged
part of the native population remains without any form of support.
It so happens that in Italy the application of the European Community
directive in favor of Ukrainian refugees coincided with the almost
contemporary and contemporary suppression of the citizen's income. This
gives rise to an understandable reaction of social envy for a category
of people who appear to be particularly and unjustifiably protected,
especially if one considers that at the same time policies of rejection
are being adopted against clandestine and irregular emigration of people
who reach the country, following what is known as the Balkan route,
coming from the Middle East and the South of the world, or among those
who arrive in Italy by crossing the sea.
In other words, the Ukrainian diaspora fuels and further complicates the
migration problem, not only in Italy but with particular relevance in
Romania and Germany, where it has contributed to the shift of the
electorate to the right, in favor of those parties that oppose the war
in Ukraine, its financing and therefore promise to put an end to the
provision of resources to this segment of the population.
It is thought-provoking that European governments are increasingly
adopting policies to contain emigration from the global south, invoking
cultural diversity and the skin color of migrants as an element of
differentiation, while leaving the doors open to the deployment of
solidarity and acceptance towards Ukrainian populations. The suspicion
arises that migration from Ukraine is viewed more favorably, since it is
a population coming from another European country, of a culture and
religion that is supposedly similar and, above all, characterized by a
skin pigmentation that allows for easier integration and a lack of
immediate recognition in terms of different origins. The profound racism
that characterizes European society and also permeates legislation and
translates into different standards that in fact create the legal bases
for discrimination is essentially evident in political and collective
behavior. The war in Ukraine thus becomes one of the ways in which
European states are replenishing their populations, recruiting those
portions of citizens who are missing due to the demographic decline of
European states, afflicted by an almost exponential decline in the birth
rate, through the introduction of a racial drift. The exodus induced by
the war has caused a part of the Ukrainian people to take a path of no
return that leads to the dilution of their identity.
However, this choice is raising growing resistance, so much so that the
news of these days is that the EU has decided not to extend the customs
exemption on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, which in
fact entails the introduction of customs duties starting from June 6:
this was announced by the representative of the European Commission for
Agriculture Balazs Uvari.
The suicidal politics of the left-wing parties and the war in Ukraine
The parties of the reformist left. uncritically assuming the defense of
Ukraine as an attacked country, they have been victims of a hasty and
superficial analysis of the causes of the conflict that instead should
be sought in the need to maintain a geostrategic balance between the
different areas of influence but also keeping in mind the founding
values on which the European Union itself was built.
Looking deeper into this aspect of the problem, we note that one of the
key principles of the togetherness of the European peoples who have
joined the Union is the acceptance of the principle of
self-determination of the peoples who have agreed to be part of it. This
principle has universal value and has been invoked when the Union itself
has deemed it suitable and consistent with its own interests, that is,
in the case of the Balkan crisis and the dissolution of the former
Yugoslavia, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Balkan
peoples and their request to recognize their future in the common
destiny of the European peoples. However, the request for
self-determination of the eastern provinces of Ukraine, of Donbass in
particular, has not received the same attention; indeed, their
aspiration to self-determination and autonomy was considered a serious
violation of law and an illegitimate uprising against the central State
and its integrity. It is worth remembering that the European Union did
not hesitate to intervene in the Balkan crisis by promoting the process
of self-determination of the peoples of the Balkans, while in this case
it did the opposite. Similarly, rather than supporting the centralist
policies of the Ukrainian nationalist government, the parties of the
left should have, consistently with their political positions, supported
the principle of self-determination of peoples, recognizing that similar
conflicts are resolved with the recognition of the autonomy of the
territories. We cannot ask peoples to adopt double standards and to
recognize the principle of autonomy in response to the requests of the
Balkan populations, while denying it to the populations that inhabit the
territories east of the Dnipro and in Crimea.
The virtuous case of Trentino Alto Adige
Our country has also had to face the problem of a part of the national
territory in which separatist tendencies predominated, fueled by a
difference in language and traditions. We are referring to Trentino Alto
Adige, but also to the Aosta Valley, regions for which the Italian legal
system, compatible with the European one, has provided and provides for
broad autonomies, which allow these communities to live in harmony
within the national State and within a broader community of States. A
similar solution could have been found for the eastern provinces of Ukraine.
Once the problem of the autonomy of the territories and populations was
correctly set, the other complex issues that the conflict brings with it
should and could have been addressed from a different perspective,
taking into account the interests of the parties in conflict, among
other things avoiding the successful completion of operations of
scavenging by subjects, third parties such as the United States and
Great Britain, who had every interest in destabilizing the relationship
of exchange and collaboration between manufacturing and energy on which
the partnership between European industry and the Russian economy was
based. It should also be remembered that a non-marginal aspect of the
Ukrainian crisis is closely connected to the conflict entirely internal
to Orthodoxy that opposes the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the
Patriarchate of Moscow, which compete for hegemony over the Orthodox
ecumene. This conflict that led to the establishment of a schismatic
Orthodox Church in Ukraine and to religious persecution appears, if
possible, to be of greater complexity in identifying possible solutions
due to the geopolitical implications that it brings with it. The
inability to grasp the set of problems connected to the crisis depends
on the lack of ideal and scientific guidelines in the left-wing parties
and on the abandonment of historical materialist analysis capable of
providing a rational and coherent reading of reality taking into account
the class interest and the struggle of proletarian internationalism, in
the interest of the people, social justice and equality. Using the
categories of the class struggle would have avoided falling into the
trap designed by the international right, avoiding providing the reasons
to allow a shift to the right of the electorate of which we all pay the
consequences.
Gianni Cimbalo
https://www.ucadi.org/2025/06/22/diaspora-ucraina-e-destra-europea/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten