Characteristics and development impact of temporary migration: The case of Ukraine

Abstract

Ukraine, as a country situated at the crossroads of various migrant flows, is still without a state migration policy. Ukrainian emigrants and return migrants, transit migrants from the East to the West, and immigrants to Ukraine for the most part view their stay in Ukraine as a link in further movement to other countries. Temporary migration in Ukraine can be viewed in terms of a space with overlapping transnational networks that include the Ukrainian authorities, non-governmental organisations and local residents. The authors analyse the phenomenon of corruption as a substitute for a functioning and institutionalised migration policy, attempt to typologise multiple transnational social spaces that exist in Ukraine and focus on the specifics of the ‘migration industry’ as it relates to Ukraine.