The International Center for Migration Policy Development has published an analytical note on the impact of COVID-19 on Ukrainian labor migrants in four European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Italy. Labor migrants from Ukraine constitute the largest group of foreign workers in the European Union.
The challenges most frequently faced by migrants in the context of the crisis caused by COVID-19 include: loss of work and livelihoods, violation of periods of stay in the host country, difficulties with return when states, and in particular transit states, impose bans on border crossing for foreigners, etc.
At the same time, the economies of the host countries suffer, as there is a shortage of migrant workers, especially in those industries that are necessary for the functioning of the food supply system.
The states that have become the object of the study respond to the respective challenges with variable success. The analytical note offers a set of positive practices to improve the situation with Ukrainian labor migrants:
- Online procedures for submitting and processing visa applications;
- Issuance of residence permits for a longer period and extension of the validity period of already issued permits;
- Improvement of information support in the Ukrainian language;
- Creation of chatbots for answers to the most common questions;
- Canceling the binding of a work visa to a specific employer or employment contract.
You can read more about the text of the analytical note at link
Українська