NEW CHALLENGES OF FORCED INTERNAL AND LABOR MIGRATION IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The paper provides insights into the scale, intensity, the major trends and forms of internal and labour migration which has become an integral and critical attribute of social realia of modern Ukrainian society. The key factors affecting the settings and nature of forced internal and labor migration in Ukraine in 2014–2017 have been identified along with its essential vectors in the context of increased competition in the labor market, military actions in the Donbas region and the economic crisis. The study reveals the effects from forced internal labor migration on the national employment policy and explores the changes in the demand for qualified professionals. It is specified that forced internal and labor migration in Ukraine over 2014–2017 is the most large-scale internal migration since the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident in 1986. According to the Ministry of social policy of Ukraine, there were about 1.5 million of internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered in March 2018. Despite the ongoing war, occupation and life hazard, the number of registered internally displaced persons has decreased in the past two years. However, the government and public organizations mark permanent and increasingly intensified bilateral migration. The key factors affecting the forced migration process are the following: the complexity of gender and age ratio: there is a significant prevalence of women – 62% of IDPs, about 24% of IDPs are able-bodied adults (among them 70% are women), 59% of IDPs are pensioners, 13% children and 4% of people with disabilities. Another specific factor is unemployment – by the beginning of 2018 up to 60% of migrants were unemployed against 30% in 2015. According to the International organization for migration data, as of March 2018, the unemployment rate of IDPs amounted to 48%, with 70% of able-bodied IDPs have higher education. It is demonstrated that about 3% of Ukrainians refer to internally displaced persons which makes the largest group of IDPs in Europe. However, in the last two years the number of registered IDPs and people who apply for social assistance is reduced. A range of unresolved issues in the area of legal social protection of forced migration and the need for a theoretical understanding of the legal social processes in the modern realia of social protection of refugees and internally displaced persons have been discussed, emphasis is put on a dramatic increase in the number of legislative and other normative legal acts, the prolonged absence of the vital laws regulating social and legal protection of refugees and internally displaced persons.