Living Conditions of Internally Displaced Persons in the Ciscarpathian Region in Context of the Russian War against Ukraine

Abstract

The article is devoted to the difficult material, housing and everyday situation of internally displaced persons in one of the territorial communities in the Ciscarpathian region. One of the centers of the territorial community of Ivano-Frankivsk region at the beginning of the Russian open armed aggression managed to accept a significant number of refugees from the war on its territory, who were placed in various community owned institutions (so-called collective centers), religious organizations, and local medical institutions. Along with them, shelters of private and municipal ownership appeared on the territory of the community, where their strict rules of stay were in effect, but where people have found a small share of private comfort in the conditions of life’s wanderings. Many problems appeared over time with the arrangement of the living space of forced resettlers in this community centers for the acceptance of such people due to their individual needs, the organization of collective everyday life and the satisfaction of their social and natural rights. As a result, significant misunderstandings later emerged within the immigrant community, which caused suffering for some individuals in this group. This sowed considerable uncertainty about the future of these families, where they will find themselves tomorrow, because their own home, although it survived, became a traumatic page in their lives. Being around the elderly, it was very common to hear anxious questions filled with fear and doubt: ‘Won’t they relocate us from here?’. In general, arranging the personal space of forced resettlers, including people with special needs (persons with physical disabilities, people with psychological injuries and deviations, elderly persons) in the conditions of the ongoing Russia’s war against Ukraine, is a great challenge both for local authorities and relevant social services, and for public and volunteer organizations.