Hryhorii Seleshchuk: ‘The formation of migration policy should be based on deep analysis of the situation’

A roundtable on social problems of Ukrainian migration was held on May 15 at the Institute for Regional Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Nearly 40 leading Ukrainian scientists, public figures, journalists, representatives of the State Migration Service and others participated in the event. The UGCC Commission for Migrants was a co-organizer of the roundtable. Professor Juliana Sadova (head of humanitarian development of the region of the Institute for Regional Studies of NAS of Ukraine) presented the principles of regional migration policy. Hryhorii Seleshchuk, head of the Commission for Migrants, emphasized that the establishment of regional and state migration policy must be done taking into account the results of scientific research. However, academic achievements should follow from practical activity and meet the objective of the latter. Zoryana Lukavetska, project manager for Caritas Ukraine, shared her experience of organizing activities for children of migrant workers and stressed that singling out children whose parents are migrant workers is absolutely not acceptable, because it leads to their social stigmatization. The seminar was also attended by Oksana Sapelyak (Institute of Ethnology), a researcher, who in particular studied the Ukrainian diaspora in Argentina and Paraguay. She stressed that Ukrainian migration lasts for more than a half century and that for some the migration challenges have been resolved. Although these solutions were rejected in Soviet times, she believes nothing prevents us from returning to them now. Svitlana Miroshnychenko, representative of the State Migration Service in Lviv Oblast, urged the participants disseminate their achievements and academic texts, and share the results of their work with officials, who "need new information about current Ukrainian migration.” The roundtable ended with a discussion on the causes and consequences of labor migration as well as the about the possibility to reduce its negative consequence. Participants noted the importance of the role of the church in addressing the needs of migrants.  

Reported Svitlana Odynets