The reception of Ukrainian refugees in Europe: Temporary protection, welfare regimes and practices

In the wake of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022, European states mobilized rapidly to receive Ukrainian refugees. The EU’s Temporary Protection Directive provided immediate refuge and access to essential services and employment, while exempting Ukrainians from the restrictive asylum procedures applied to other refugee groups.

In Norway, this meant that the asylum system was responding quickly in receiving and settling the asylum seekers from Ukraine. However, the reliance on temporary collective protections signals a broader shift in asylum policies—from permanent settlement towards precarious time-limited legal status.

For Ukrainian refugees, temporary protection status affects their access to employment, housing and overall livelihood. This panel compares reception policies across European countries, including Norway, and examines how the temporariness of protection shapes refugees’ daily lives and long-term prospects.

As the war continues, and refugee numbers remain high, some states—including Norway—have introduced new restrictions on entry or social rights for Ukrainians fleeing the war. One key area of divergence concerns the right to visit one’s country of origin. While many European countries allow Ukrainians to travel back to Ukraine, Norway imposed restrictions on this right in December 2023.

This panel examines the implications of such policies, particularly how mobility restrictions influence refugees’ well-being and prospects, on the one hand, and the meaning of mobility for Ukrainians, on the other. In various European countries, we have seen a paradigm shift with a number of restrictions intended to reduce the number of refugees. What are the consequences of such changes?

Additionally, the panel explores the role of public welfare systems and alternative support mechanisms in mitigating the uncertainties of temporary protection in different European countries, including how Ukrainian refugees navigate mobility and transnational welfare strategies to sustain their livelihoods. Furthermore, the panel will consider how the precarious legal status associated with temporary protection affects labour market participation and how it may impact refugees’ vulnerability to labour exploitation and impede longer-term settlement.

The panel debate is organized by IMER Bergen

Panelists

Are Knudsen, Research Professor, Chr. Michelsen Institute
Camille Schmoll, Director of Studies, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
Marie Mallet-Garcia, Associate Professor, Sorbonne Nouvelle University
Lena Näre, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki

Chair: Synnøve Bendixsen, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen