75% of Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania plan to return to their homeland when it is safe to do so. Another 17% of Ukrainians have not yet made their final decision. This is evidenced by data from a study conducted in 2023 at the Vilnius office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Lietuva), Delfi reports.
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Main challenges for Ukrainians in Lithuania
The study participants said that the main challenges for them remain:
- financial stability (25%), language barrier (21%), long-term rental housing (19%), employment (19%).
According to the head of IOM Lietuva Eitvydas Bingelis, during the two years of war, basic needs have been replaced by challenges related to integration.
“We are now increasingly hearing Lithuanian courses, which means that people chose to live in Lithuania while their country is not safe. However, most Ukrainians plan to return home when possible,” Bingyalis said.
According to the organization, in the first months after arriving in Lithuania, Ukrainians noted that they especially needed financial assistance and medical services, and after the first year they began to emphasize job searches and Lithuanian courses. Therefore, they were given the opportunity to study Lithuanian for free. It is reported that 400 Ukrainians attended the courses.
The study showed that the issue of purchasing medicines (19%), personal hygiene products (16%) and clothing (14%) remains relevant. During this time, Ukrainians were given 2,000 cards for purchasing medicines, 160 families received coupons in the amount of 150 euros for the purchase of various things for home improvement, and the organization allocated 330,000 euros to cover household expenses for the first year.
Standed out also money to pay rent, and last year the MICenter information center was opened, which conducts various classes for Ukrainians.
“As for the integration of Ukrainians in other Baltic countries and the challenges associated with it, there is not much difference here No. In Lithuania and Latvia, financial stability comes first; in Estonia, the language barrier is 25%, 38%, and 42%, respectively; in neighboring countries, Ukrainians also face the problem of long-term rentals (Latvia – 17%, Estonia – 21%) and challenges related to employment (Latvia – 31%, Estonia – 33%),” said Bingelis.
In the two years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, about 84 thousand Ukrainians have come to Lithuania.
Recall
The Ministry of Finance wrote that Lithuania extended temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine for a year – until March 2025.
