Ukrainians as a Diaspora

Even though the majority Ukrainians lived in poverty in the 90s, they still had faith that the economy will get better in the future and chose to stay in Ukraine (Wallace 2002). The research done by Drbohlav et al (1999), on the other hand, suggested that Ukrainians immigrants were pessimistic about the future of Ukrainian economy with only 22 percent of respondents believed that the economic situation in the country would get better in the next 5 years. Ukrainians working

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for them to go back into Ukrainian labour market because they had lost their qualifications during their stay abroad. It is not uncommon for one family member working abroad and sending money to support their spouse and children in Ukraine. This has become a social issue in Ukraine because many children were raised by only one parent or by grandparents, while parents were working abroad. This issue is deepened when parents work abroad illegally and cannot go back to their home country easily. Women are often also migrating abroad in order to earn income, but they work in different sectors such as domestic help, hospitality sector or agriculture (Wallace 2002). The majority of migrants, however, are men. Wallace (2002) suggests that men migrate more often because women have household responsibilities. The fact that women take care of the house and children enables men to become circular migrants, spending abroad a longer period of time. In Ukraine, the society expects a husband to earn income for his family and a wife migrates only if her husband is not capable of being a breadwinner for the family. Decisions to migrate to work abroad are made within family and often for the sake of family (Sidorenko 1995). If a wife migrates as well, grandparents usually take care of children (Sidorenko 1995). It is not uncommon, that grandparents become a primary caretakers, because parents can spend years abroad or not even come back to Ukraine anymore. Those children are called “social orphans” by Ukrainian scholars because officially they do not have a caretaker, their parents are abroad, and their grandparents are not registered as caretakers.

Another factor that is limiting permanent migration from Ukraine is that both the Czech Republic and Ukraine are welfare states (Wallace 2002). Such welfare states encourage immobility because citizens can receive pensions, health services, education and other benefits only if they pay

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Ukrainian pension system. They often leave their family in Ukraine because of the education and health care. Connection to the welfare system in Ukraine also encourages circular migration.

The last factor is attachment to the homeland, as well as language and cultural barrier (Wallace 2002). Even Ukrainian and Czech languages are similar, immigrants still need to make an effort to learn the language.

According to the estimates, around 80 percent of Ukrainian immigrants wish to return home, seeing migration as a temporary solution to earn income (Markov et al 2009, cited in Strielkowski and Rausser 2013). The majority of immigrants invest their earnings back to Ukraine, for example, they spend money on property, education costs of their children and support their families. The families of immigrants have a higher purchasing power than an average Ukrainian citizen, so there is a whole market targeting the temporary migrant workers and their families (Fedyuk 2006). Most of remittances are used for basic needs and food (58 percent), 30 percent is used on medicine and education (although officially Ukrainian medical service is free for all citizens, in the reality, the majority of medical supplies and medicine need to be bought by patients, and the majority of doctors expect gifts and money for their service), 17 percent of real estate investment, and the rest of money for other uses (Strielkowski et al 2012).

Most migrants valued their emigration experience positively, because it helped them to improve their economic situation, housing conditions, or helped them to gain professional experience and open own business (Pirozhkov 2006). However, Fedyk (2006) states that the money earned abroad is almost never used for opening a business in Ukraine. It is hard for a migrant to save enough money to open a business and the business in Ukraine are run by local elite and their families. It is almost impossible to open own business without connection. The immigrants who spent abroad several years often lack such connections (Fedyuk 2006). There are several obstacles to run a small-scale business in Ukraine. First of all, the government policy is focused on the major

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obstacle is corruption (Luptak and Drbohlav 1999). The level of corruption could be only compared to African countries, according to Luptak and Drbohlav (1999). Spending money on college education of children is a common goal for many migrants working abroad. Officially, the higher education is free for citizens, but in the recent years, many private universities have emerged, and even public universities require unofficial fees.

Even though the Ukrainian migration to the Czech Republic is considered temporary, the recent statistics and research shows that the number of Ukrainians willing to stay in the Czech Republic permanently is growing (Bernard and Mikesova 2014). Between the years 2008-2011 the growth of the Ukrainians with the permanent residence grew from 30 to 42 percent. This might be due to the fact that the circulatory migration becomes more and more difficult because the restriction of the migration policy. For a Ukrainian it might be difficult to come again to the Czech Republic, find a new job and get a work permit (Bernard and Mikesova 2014).

Leontiyeva (2016) stated that according to the last survey on immigration in the Czech Republic, 80 percent of Ukrainians wished to stay in the Czech Republic for the next 5 years. The Ukrainians who live in the Czech Republic with families seem to be more integrated into the Czech community as well, in comparison to Vietnamese.

The current economic and political situation in Ukraine would also force migrants to consider staying abroad permanently. As it was stated above, reintegration into the Ukrainian society is a hard task for many migrants because during their stay abroad they lose their social connections and qualifications.

From the interviews the author has conducted in the Czech Republic, many Ukrainians wish

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Republic or are planning to bring them. The majority of the interviewees own property in the Czech Republic, are currently paying mortgage or are planning to buy own property in the future.