The INFLUX project provides policy-relevant research on the governance and integration of refugees and other migrants who have left due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It examines how these migrants are received, settled, and integrated in their Nordic and Baltic host societies.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, millions of migrants from Ukraine have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge. Among this new flow, there are also other migrants who face increased oppression in their home countries. A large number has fled to the Nordic and Baltic countries, where the Ukrainian refugees have been granted group asylum.
This project examines the integration of, and governance structures relating to, this influx of migrants in the short-, medium-, and long-term in Nordic and Baltic countries. By understanding these dynamics, the project seeks to improve related integration policies in the host countries. INFLUX examines these issues in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania.
In the Nordics, where the majority of previous refugee flows have originated from further afield, there appears to be a change in the overall reception and integration structures in response to the Ukrainians, who are geographically and culturally closer to Nordic countries. Parallelly, the Baltic states are in a new position as migrant destinations and have launched ad hoc structures supported by civil society to establish accommodation and integration mechanisms.
Across these highly different contexts, the sudden influx of refugees and other migrants has strained existing reception structures and challenged integration capacities. It is therefore of crucial importance to understand how these states respond the abrupt new migration dynamics, and the related outcomes for the migrants.
The project is coordinated by Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and funded by Nordforsk.
Yhteyshenkilöt
Mervi Kaukko
professori, kasvatustiede, monikulttuurisuuskasvatus
Mervi Kaukko