Refugee families from Ukraine

The flight from war of more than 6 million people from Ukraine (UNHCR 2024) presented neighbouring countries and the European Union, including Germany, with new challenges. The European Union's Temporary Protection Directive, which came into force for the first time, quickly provided provisional clarity on residence rights, allowing visa-free entry and residence. Since then, the legal situation has been gradually adapted by the federal government, the state governments and the competent authorities. The directive expired in February 2024 and has now been extended until March 2028. Not only the legal situation but also the feminised nature of this migration—as the refugees are mainly mothers with (small) children—is new and raises questions.

Central to this is the context of legal, social and familial (in)security, both in terms of the concrete effects on subjective life plans and in terms of the conceptual question of the interplay between (circular) involuntary migration and integration in Germany.

Against this backdrop, this project focused on the interactions between various state authorities and other public institutions at federal, state and municipal levels, and on the specific needs and challenges that participants encountered on their settlement paths in Berlin or Munich. The context of legal (in)security and the aspirations of forced migrants from Ukraine to remain or return were of interest to us, also in comparison with groups of refugees who came to Germany in 2015/2016, insofar as a comparison was possible on the basis of accessible data and existing empirical studies.

The project built on research examining ideas of deservingness and belonging, and explored how migrants and refugees negotiated their social rights and needs in interactions with state institutions and civil society organisations. It also focused on the extent to which they themselves could act autonomously and decide on the type and scope of state support they received.

In light of the adjustments made at all levels of government with regard to legal regulations and reception infrastructure for refugees, we were interested in the subjective experiences and perspectives of the group of protection-holders under Section 24 of the German Residence Act, and in their relationship to the state over time.

The project used a qualitative longitudinal panel design, supplementing the data collected in 2022 with three further waves of qualitative interviews (83 interviews in total) to document settlement trajectories over time and to analyse the potential impacts of changing institutional conditions.

We considered a qualitative longitudinal panel study design as particularly well suited to capturing the dynamic relationship between secondary migration considerations and integration processes. Our work illustrated the often-contradictory orientations of Ukrainian refugee families with regard to staying or returning, settling in Germany, or turning towards their home context. The strategies they used to shape their "new" life in Germany over time proved to be equally inconsistent and constantly changing.

The project showed how ensuring the meaningful participation of immigrants is—and should remain—an ongoing societal task, one that requires resilient and reliable integration infrastructures adapted to local needs. In addition, the participants' experiences highlighted the value of secure as opposed to uncertain prospects to remain in the country for their integration efforts.