RESEARCH STUDY ON THE CONDITIONS OF ADAPTION OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, USING POLAND AS A CASE OF STUDY

In our time and age, the number of countries that accept refugees actively has increased. In many states, refugees are given the same rights as citizens (the only exception is the right to vote), social and material assistance are provided, children are educated, and adults are employed. However, citizens of one or another country do not always share the government’s policy and are not always ready to welcome refugees with open arms. To draw a parallel between the policy of one such country and the attitude of its people, we will examine the adaptation of refugees from Ukraine specifically through the educational system of Poland, since today’s children, who will become the main generation in the future, perceive the attitude of those around them more sincerely and openly than any other age group. The relevance of this work lies in the changes in laws and public opinion regarding recent events that have caused negative attitudes toward refugees, as well as the large number of complaints from children and adolescents about bullying and “non-acceptance” on social networks. Our goal is to examine Poland’s policy toward refugees, the citizens’ attitudes toward this policy, and the reforms adopted to improve the situation of Ukrainian refugees.

Our tasks are:

1. To examine Poland’s innovations aimed at improving the situation of refugees;
2. To conduct a survey to identify the native population’s attitude toward migrants.

Since the beginning of summer 2025, a large number of new rules and laws concerning Ukranian refugees have been introduced. In some spheres of life these laws improve the stay of Ukranians in Poland, while others make it more difficult. In September, Karol Nawrocki signed a new government bill that, on one hand, grants more privileges than before, and on the other hand regulates unacceptable situations where foreigners receive support from citizens’ taxes, but do not contribute to society. It can also be concluded that Ukrainian refugees receive good support based on the phrase of Zbigniew Bogucki: “We need to switch to normal conditions, i.e. treating Ukrainian citizens in Poland in the same way as all other foreigners”, which makes it clear that currently they are not treated the same as other foreigners.

Starting June 1, 2025, the act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens was revised. Children are required to attend Polish schools in order to receive monthly payments of 192 euros each child under 18 years old. There are also special benefits provided at the beginning of the school year for purchasing all necessary study materials, valid until the child turns 20. Regarding universities, starting July 1, a limit was set allowing foreigners to make up no more than 50% of the total numbers of students, which may complicate the admission process. [4]

Significant work was done by Care international in Poland and IRC (the international rescue committee), who researched the same topic as we did in 2024. Their study raises very important issues regarding the education of Ukranian children in Poland, providing statistics on satisfaction with education, the percentage of children attending schools, and those not attending at all. It also includes personal case examples and the problems faced by schoolchildren and students. However, in any area of life, interethnic tension is unavoidable: “My daughter told me about a case [where] the younger child was pushed and insulted, he was called Russian because he speaks Russian. And when she approached the teacher, said that this was the situation the teacher told her that she doesn’t have time for this.” [8]

Speaking of improvements in enhancing employment opportunities, the benefits granted to any Ukrainian citizen are worth nothing, with the only condition for employment being legal residence in the country and possession of a PESEL.

A presidential bill has been introduced to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland which, among other things, grants access to medical services exclusively to Ukranians who are officially working and paying contributions in the country.

According to the president, the current situation creates preferences for refugees, while native Poles face certain difficulties in the healthcare system, Karol Nawrocki said that it places them in a situation where citizens of Poland are treated worse in their own country than their guests from Ukraine, highlighting the budget expenses related to free medical care used by a total of 1.3 million refugees, with the total cost of treatment amounting to 4.3 billion zlotys - approximately one billion euros.[6]

What does the European Union, of which Poland is a part, think about it?

Answering a question from Ukrainian journalists about Poland’s plans to restrict access to healthcare for unemployed Ukrainians, European Commission President Thomas Rhené stated: “The European Directive on temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees does not specify a minimum standard for medical services, leaving the specifics of access and coverage up to individual member states”.

He also responded to whether it is acceptable to completely deny medical care to those who are not working: “The extent of healthcare provision is determined by national laws and systems, but the EU sets standards for cross-border healthcare and encourages cooperation among member states”.

Thus, the policies of states, as exemplified by one of them, are becoming less “friendly” toward Ukrainian refugees as of August 2025.

A large number of various surveys have been conducted about the opinion of local residents regarding the large number of Ukrainian refugees. Same surveys, similar to ours, were conducted due to bullying in schools or offensive phrases in public places.

One of the latest researches was conducted at the start of October by Centre for Public Opinion Research and showed two sides of opinion: those, who accept and support all the measures provided by the government and those, who think it crosses the limits, this kind of people even participates in massive protests against Ukrainian refugees. [7]

There are a lot of cases where Ukrainian people are subjected to physical violence, offended and insulted. It doesn’t apply only to adults, but also kids. Lukasz Jakubowski who visited schools on a regular basis mentioned that polish kids refuse playing with Ukranians, they can push them, insult and ignore. No less popular phrase is “Go back to Ukraine”. Thus, we can see that negative experiences affected different ages, genders, and professions, and occurred anywhere. [2]

Another misunderstanding between nations was the concert of the Belarusian performer Max Korzh, which took place in August 2025 and led to negative attitudes toward refugees and visitors from Ukraine. About 60.000 people attended the concert, 109 of whom were arrested during the performance for drug possession, unlawful entry, assault on security, and even bringing in pyrotechnic products. During the event, complete chaos ensued, and some people were injured, but an even more aggravating moment was a person holding the flag Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a WWII-era nationalist paramilitary formation responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands of Poles that only worsened the attitude toward migrants. As a result of the concert, 57 Ukranians and 6 Belarusians were deported. [3]

To better understand the situation and see if the position of Ukranian refugees has changed over the six months of conducted activities and adopted measures, a survey was conducted among Ukrainian students of schools, colleges, and universities residing in Poland.

Respondents were first asked to rate a 10-point scale the friendliness level of people around them: teachers, classmates, neighbours, employers, and people during some additional workshops. The statistics show a divided response overall, with the least hostility reported from teachers and workshops members, indicating that educators and workshops participants tend to be the most friendly toward refugee students. However, some respondents mentioned teacher indifference to bullying in schools. The most hostility was reported from local teenagers, salesmen, civil servants, as well as alcohol and drug addicts. Employers received very low scores, with some respondents nothing bias and negative attitudes during job applications.

One open-ended questions invited respondents to share positive or negative experiences with local people. More than 50% wrote about insults, difficulties with state services, rejection, adaption and socialisation challenges, and bullying. Many noted the local people often people do not help with language difficulties - pretending not to understand, frequently correcting them, or peers deliberately switching languages for others not to understand them. About 35% of the answers contained positive stories of assistance and friendliness. [1]

Analysing innovations, opinions, statistics, news sources, and survey results, it can be concluded that negative attitudes toward Ukranian refugees are not decreasing but rather increasing, causing many children and teenagers to suffer bullying from peers and older generations. Not all official measures taken addictively improve refugees’ adaption.

Thus, the state strives to provide good conditions, benefits, social payments, and support; however, unfortunately, the country’s policy is not always aligned with the people’s attitude, as observed in the practical part of the study.

Appendix

The results of the survey about positive and negative attitudes towards Ukranian refugees

References:

1. Act of June 13, 2003, on granting protection to foreigners on the territory of Poland Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://www.strazgraniczna.pl/pl/straz-graniczna/prawo/ustawy/Ustawa-z-dnia-13-czerwca-2003-r-o-udzielaniu-cudzoziemcom-ochrony-na-terytorium-.pdf (accessed: 16.10.2025).
2. Are Polish attitudes to Ukrainian refugees souring? Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://www.dw.com/en/are-polish-attitudes-to-ukrainian-refugees-souring/a-71921543 (accessed: 18.10.2025).
3. Foreign agents and local idiots Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/08/14/foreign-agents-and-local-idiots (accessed: 18.10.2025).
4. New migration regulations from June 1, 2025 – changes in rules for work, education, and stay of foreigners in Poland Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://www.gov.pl/web/mswia/nowe-przepisy-migracyjne-od-1-czerwca-2025-r–zmiany-w-zasadach-pracy-edukacji-i-pobytu-cudzoziemcow-w-polsce2 (accessed: 16.10.2025).
5. Office for Foreigners (udsc.gov.pl) Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://udsc.gov.pl (accessed: 18.10.2025).
6. Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoes bill providing aid to Ukrainian refugees living in Poland Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://tvpworld.com/88523394/polish-president-karol-nawrocki-vetoes-bill-providing-aid-to-ukrainian-refugees-living-in-poland (accessed: 17.10.2025).
7. Poles divided on support for Ukrainian refugees Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://english.nv.ua/nation/poles-divided-on-support-for-ukrainian-refugees-50551485.html (accessed: 15.10.2025).
8. Save the Children. Improving education access for displaced children Electronic resource. – Access mode: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/ENG_online_report.pdf, p. 38 (accessed: 14.10.2025).