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Seeking Refuge in the Ciscarpathian Region: Identification Self-Reflections of Internally Displaced Persons

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The authors of the publication:
Kolomyichuk Oleksandr
p.:
28–35
UDC:
314.151.3-054.73(477.8):355.422(470+571+477)“2014/2023”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/mue2023.22.028
Bibliographic description:
Kolomyichuk, O. (2023) Seeking Refuge in the Ciscarpathian Region: Identification Self-Reflections of Internally Displaced Persons. Materials to Ukrainian Ethnology, 22 (25), 28–35.
Received:
10.12.2023
Recommended for publishing:
14.12.2023

Author

Kolomyichuk Oleksandr

a Ph.D. in History, a research fellow at the Ukrainian Ethnological Centre Department of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2865-2396

 

Seeking Refuge in the Ciscarpathian Region: Identification Self-Reflections of Internally Displaced Persons

 

Abstract

The difficult life circumstances faced by IDPs in 2014–2022 according to eyewitnesses’ stories, when they have been searching for temporary housing in Ciscarpathian region under the military threat, are considered in the article. Situations and cases from the lives of the interviewees are analysed, when they first have arrived to the host communities of the western Ukrainian region to escape mortal danger. The mutual worldview stereotypes of the inhabitants from the East and West of Ukraine, originating from the past and often imposed from the outside in the 20th century have been outlined. It is emphasized that such bias is not conducive to interpersonal relationships and communication, leaving universal values and moral priorities in the shadow of manipulative attitudes and personal rejection.

Through the lens of the lived experience of forced resettlers, their living conditions are compared. They are caused partly by the physical, geographical, and administrative specific character of the area. A special attention is paid to the fact that availability of affordable and safe housing is often the key factor that encourages displaced persons to choose a particular settlement for their life, and is also a prerequisite for their successful social integration. The presence of acquaintances, which helps apparently to calm anxiety and make them feel more confident, is another factor that encourages war refugees to settle in a particular community. Leaving one’s own home, and for some, losing it all together, is an invisible social and psychological trauma that the narrators try to overcome in their life stories. It is emphasized that in the worldview priorities of forced resettlers, which the author has identified during the content analysis of the collected narratives, the sensitive and empathetic behaviour of representatives of host communities is an important factor in the adaptive entry of new comers into an unknown socio-cultural space.

 

Keywords

forced resettlers, war, housing, shelter, community, Ciscarpathian region.

 

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