Ukrainian migrants in Poland | Eastern Europe | bpb.de

Poland has rapidly become a new immigration country as a result of its own successful economic transition as well as economic and political challenges faced by its neighbours: Belarus and Ukraine. According to current estimates of Statistics Poland, more than three million foreigners live in Poland with its overall permanent population of 37,6 million. However, Poland’s immigration profile is somewhat unusual because the overwhelming majority of these foreigners come from a single country: Ukraine. The two countries are fairly interdependent and Poland’s migration situation is rather fluid, with the extraordinary recent influx of refugees from Ukraine further adding to the picture.

Poland’s transition into a new immigration country

Poland is rapidly transforming into a net immigration country. In addition to experiencing the highest global increase in the number of short-term labour migrants, it has received an extraordinary influx of war refugees from Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale aggression against that country. For many decades, Poland was a net emigration country; this trend intensified after Poland joined the EU in 2004. According to Statistics Poland, about 2.2 million Poles were living abroad at the end of 2020, the majority in European countries.

Despite its anti-immigration rhetoric, the migration policies of the Law and Justice (PiS) government, which was in power between 2015 and 2023, were fairly liberal. Under PiS rule, measures were introduced to make it easier for firms to employ foreign workers. According to available estimates, the number of foreigners in Poland rose from 100,000 in 2011 to two million in 2019. During that period, the overwhelming majority of foreigners were citizens of Ukraine living in Poland on short-term labour permits. Apart from Ukraine, the most common countries of origin for migrants were other post-Soviet countries, in particular Belarus and to a lesser extent Moldova, Georgia and Russia. In recent years a growing number of migrants from India have arrived in Poland. The transformation of Poland into a net-immigration country is a complex phenomenon that can be explained in terms of the convergence of a number of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. The most crucial pull factor is undoubtedly Poland’s recent economic performance, which has been characterised by a rise in average salaries combined with growing labour shortage and rising demand for foreign workers as well as liberal labour immigration policies. A key stage in this regard was the introduction in 2006 of a simplified scheme for the employment of foreign workers; initially designed to support the country’s agricultural sector, the scheme was later expanded to other sectors of the economy. Yet it needs to be stressed that most migrants in Poland only have temporary status and Polish institutions dealing with immigration remain underdeveloped.

Migration from Ukraine between 1991 and 2022

The rapidity and nature of Poland’s transition into a net immigration country is unusual. This is the case not only because of the high proportion of Ukrainian migrants, but also because Poland emerged from the Second World War as a de facto monoethnic country as result of Nazi and Soviet occupation, ethnic cleansings, and compulsory post-war population transfers. The increase in the number of Ukrainian migrants arriving in Poland began soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union when the measures that had severely restricted their freedom of movement during the Cold War period were lifted. In this initial period, Ukrainians mainly immigrated to Poland for small-scale business as well as for family reasons as despite the war losses and post-war population transfers in Poland there was still a Ukrainian ethnic minority in the country. Over time there was an increase in seasonal circular migration for work in agriculture and services. After 2006 and the introduction of a new labour migration scheme, there was an increase in temporary migration for work which again included many Ukrainian citizens. This was facilitated by low travel costs, extensive pre-existing migration networks, the similarity of the two languages and the possibility of maintaining family ties in Ukraine. Before Russia’s 2014 military intervention in Ukraine, the number of short-term permits issued to Ukrainian citizens totaled 217,000. Among the migrants was a high share of middle-aged Ukrainian women who came to Poland to work in agriculture, in care or as domestic workers.

It was only after Russia’s aggression in the Donbas region and the illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014, both of which contributed towards economic recession in Ukraine, that large numbers of Ukrainian migrants started arriving in Poland. Among them was a significant number of Ukrainians who had previously worked in Russia and now opted for Poland as a result of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Interestingly, although this migration was triggered by an armed conflict and could therefore in many individual cases be characterised as forced displacement, most of the Ukrainian citizens who arrived in Poland during that time applied for work permits. One reason for this was the much higher probability of a positive and rapid decision regarding a temporary residence permit in the framework of the labour market-related migration procedure. The socio-demographic profile of migrants also changed in this period: it became more diverse in terms of gender, age, migration experience, regions of Ukraine represented and destinations within Poland. More men, including younger men, began to arrive in Poland; these migrants quickly found jobs in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and the service industry.

In 2018, Poland became the European leader in the temporary employment of migrant workers. In 2019, as many as 972,000 Ukrainians – 89 percent of the total number of foreigners in Poland – took advantage of temporary work permits. This influx did not let up considerably even during the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2020, more than 857,000 Ukrainian citizens legalised their stay this way. When the measures to contain the pandemic were eased, the number of such migrants increased to 1,055,000 in 2021. It then decreased sharply as a result of Russia’s full-fledged war against Ukraine from 24 February 2022: Only 476,000 Ukrainians came to Poland for short-term work in 2022. It has been estimated that around 1.3-1.5 million Ukrainian citizens were living in Poland in early 2022 – that is, before the outbreak of full-scale Russian aggression. This number does not only include temporary work visas, but also other legal pathways to stay in Poland, including long-term labour permits, residence permits and student visas.

Mass forced migration in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine

As a result of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Europe has experienced one of the biggest refugee movements since World War II. Within the first six weeks, the Russian invasion forced 4.2 million people to flee the country; another 6.5 million became internally displaced within Ukraine. The number of newly displaced Ukrainians decreased in the summer of 2022; many people returned to Ukraine. However, as of October 2023, a total of 6.2 million Ukrainian nationals remained displaced outside of Ukraine. The main destination countries have been Poland, Germany, Czechia and other EU states.

As of October 20th 2023, 958,935 Ukrainians with temporary-protection status were registered in Poland. This represents a much smaller number by comparison with the number of displaced people recorded during the first months of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. In the spring of 2022, up to four million forced migrants were registered in Poland; the populations of some cities doubled due to the influx of refugees. This created a significant challenge both for Ukrainian refugees – most of whom were women and children who had been forced to leave their homes at short notice – and for host communities which had to contend with factors including a shortage of suitable accommodation, budgetary constraints and strains on the education and healthcare systems. Yet Poland kept its borders open for Ukrainians fleeing the war, and the success of this initial response was made possible as a result of welcoming government policies, particularly at the local level, the emergence of various grassroots initiatives and mass social solidarity, through which large numbers of refugees were accommodated in private homes. The Polish government’s refugee policy was in general in line with the European Council’s directive to grant temporary protection to forced migrants from Ukraine. Poland also decided to enact its own special bill on the legal status of Ukrainians fleeing the war. This law encompasses all Ukrainian citizens and their family members arriving in Poland after 24th February 2022. It granted them permission to remain legally for up to 18 months (this period has since been extended) with a simplified registration process; they were also given access to the labour market, education (for children), healthcare and social assistance, provided they applied for a Polish National Identification Number (PESEL). Upon arrival, refugees receive a one-time allowance; they are also entitled to claim mainstream child benefits and other social assistance on the same terms as Polish citizens as well as free places in refugee hostels (though since March 2023 they have to cover half of their accommodation costs).

Easy access to the labour market, with comparatively low structural and institutional barriers, has made Poland a desirable destination country for Ukrainian refugees. Only one year after the outbreak of war nearly 900,000 Ukrainian refugees, or 70 percent, were registered as working in Poland. Ukrainian refugees were not, however, granted the same integration benefits (money allowances and support of social workers) as beneficiaries of international protection. Moreover, after an initial period of a few months during which they were often hosted by Polish families or in collective centres, Ukrainian refugees were faced with the task of sourcing independent accommodation. This proved to be a significant challenge due to a scarcity of available apartments in Poland’s biggest cities and rising rents. It can be assumed that difficulties in finding accommodation, a lack of long-term integration assistance and the improving security situation in Ukraine were key factors that prompted many refugees to leave Poland – either to undertake onward migration to other countries (mainly to Germany) or to return to Ukraine.