In Norway, more than a third of Ukrainians living in the country are reluctant to return to Ukraine, according to the OsloMet survey.
The survey, which asked Ukrainian refugees about their attitudes to life in Norway, found that 54 per cent of them are not sure whether they want to stay or go home. 34 per cent say they have already decided they want Norway to be their new homeland. Norway hosts more than 65,000 Ukrainian refugees, so over 20,000 thousand do not intend to return back to Ukraine.
Researcher Vilde Hernes said most Ukrainians are not sure if they want to go back because it depends on how long the war lasts and what Ukraine will be like after it ends. According to him, the number of refugees who want to stay in Norway permanently is naturally growing, so this means people are putting down roots in the country.
He stressed it will be a big challenge for the Norwegian authorities what they will do when the war is over. Most notably, the European (short-term) solution was to give Ukrainians fleeing the war temporary collective protection.
However, after the initial shock and as the war drags on, the dilemma of whether there should be a short-term or long-term perspective for Ukrainian refugees in host countries becomes impossible to ignore – both for politicians and Ukrainians themselves.
Ukrainians in Norway are collectively protected here, but this is a starting point, as Ukrainians will return home after the war, according to Employment and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself makes it clear that he wants Ukrainians to return home the day peace comes, says Brenna, but stresses that many people now know Norway after years of studying and socialising in the country.
After the war
NRC claimed the question now arises how the state will deal with the situation when more Ukrainians decide to stay in Norway after the war, the minister says they realise that it may be difficult. Basically, many of the municipalities say that they are struggling with the fact that they don’t quite know how long Ukrainians will stay with them.
It can also be difficult to scale up schools or hire more people in the health sector, says Ullensvang Municipality Mayor Roald Aga Haug. So practical problems have arisen because it is unclear how long the refugees will stay, according to him.
Hernes says that despite the problems within Norway, this tendency of not knowing in front of the future creates a problem, and it is still uncertain how long the current situation will last.
It has been more than two years since the first Ukrainian refugees arrived in Norway.
