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Dissimilar Integration Policies in Scandinavia: The Experience of Ukrainian Refugees

By Marthe Handå Myhre and Oleksandra Deineko

Since February 2022, thousands of Ukrainians have fled to Europe and settled under the temporary protection directive (TPD) or similar national regulations. In Scandinavia, as of 18 November 2024, according to the UNHCR, 77,005 Ukrainians were registered in Norway, 26,655 in Sweden and 37,825 in Denmark.

The Scandinavian countries have been known for their similarities – with well-developed welfare states and democracies, however views of migration and migration policies have differed (Hernes et al. 2023a;  Brochmann 2021; Borevi et al. 2017). The same goes for policies towards Ukrainian refugees. Despite the fact that all three countries grant Ukrainian refugees residence permit under the TPD (Sweden) or national equivalents (Norway and Denmark), the distinct national integration policies continue to shape the everyday life of Ukrainian refugees and their possibilities for integration into the labor market. While a significant number of the Ukrainian refugees have completed higher education, their diplomas are not necessarily recognized, and the language barrier prevents many from obtaining skilled work. What signals have the three countries been sending to the Ukrainian refugees through their integration measures, and how does it affect the integration of Ukrainians?

In the research project NOR-RETIN[1] (Integration or return for Ukrainian refugees), scholars at The Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) at Oslo Metropolitan University are studying the reception and integration of Ukrainian refugees in the Nordic countries, focusing on the dilemmas related to the uncertainty with regard to the length of their stay – both for state actors and the refugees. Between February and July 2024, we conducted interviews with Ukrainian refugees in Norway (43 interviews), Sweden (14 interviews) and Denmark (15 interviews), gaining insight into the challenges they are grappling within the three countries resulting from the respective national policies.

Sweden – risks of a grey/black labor market?

A bit of prehistory is helpful to grasp the Swedish policies towards Ukrainian refugees. In 2015, the last time Europe experienced a peak in the number of arriving refugees, Sweden received the major share among the three Scandinavian countries, amounting to more than 150,000 (Norway received 30,000 and Denmark 21,000) arrivals. The large amount of asylum seekers put the Swedish welfare system under pressure, and Swedish policy makers implemented a more restrictive legislation (Danielsen et al. 2023). Researchers have also found a negativization of the press discourse on immigration in Sweden in the period between 2010 and 2022 (Kryzyzanowski and Ekström 2024). At the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, Sweden had arguably experienced a recent “immigration fatigue” reflected in their policies.   

During the arrival of Ukrainians in 2022, Swedish citizens opened their summer cottages, and voluntary organizations stepped up, but the Swedish state signalled it was not eager to receive the major share of refugees this time. Financial support was kept low, and Sweden gave limited access to integration measures (Tyldum et al. 2023).

While other refugees get a higher allowance when protection is granted, Ukrainians continued on asylum seeker terms. The Ukrainians were also not eligible to participate in the regular integration program typically offered to other groups of refugees. Although they were allowed to work, they were not registered in the Swedish Population Register (folkeregisteret), which implied that they had only limited access to measures from the Swedish Public Employment Agency (Hernes et al. 2022).

From November 1, 2024, Ukrainians under the temporary protection directive can register in the Swedish Population Register after having lived one year in Sweden. However, up until then, the lack of a personal identity number had created many problems for Ukrainian refugees in Sweden. While voluntary organisations offered language training to Ukrainian refugees, until August 2023, Sweden did not allow Swedish municipalities to offer “Swedish for immigrant” (SFI) courses to Ukrainian refugees (Hernes and Danielsen 2024).

In our interviews from Sweden, we see that interviewees felt pushed into taking “any job” without questioning whether their rights as employees were respected. One interviewee expressed that:

Several interviewees stated that they had insufficient information about their rights: 

“And I was taken in for a trial day, which was unpaid, and I didn’t know that under Swedish law, even a trial day must be paid. In general, Ukrainians don’t fully know their rights.”

Thus, their precarious situation and structural factors determined by the national policies may make them more vulnerable on the labor market.

We encountered refugees who had been exploited while working without a contract, but also those who had good relations with their employers and possessed bank cards in their employer’s name, on which they received their “tax free” payment. Although we did have officially employed Ukrainians among our interviewees, it is noteworthy that in our sample of 14 interviewees, eight had experienced or heard of illicit work among Ukrainian refugees in Sweden.

Denmark – Clear expectations of rapid employment for those able to work

Denmark offered more integration support while at the same time signalling clear expectations of rapid transition to work. A new integration act that had been in force since July 2016 had intensified the focus on rapid employment with the aim of getting participants employed within a one-year program (that could be prolonged up to five years). In 2019, Denmark also changed the name of the program for refugees from “introduction program” to “self-sufficiency and repatriation program”, highlighting the explicit policy goal of a temporary stay focusing on rapid self-sufficiency before repatriation to the homeland (Hernes et al. 2022).

Ukrainian refugees were included into this program with the same rights as other groups under protection. Accordingly, Ukrainian refugees were followed up by “Job centers”, not “refugee” or “migration services” (as in Norway and Sweden) and assigned job advisors. While emphasizing rapid labor market integration, Denmark offered a flexible system of language learning. Immigrants in Denmark, including Ukrainian refugees, have the right to language courses during their first five years in the country (Hernes et al. 2022). The language courses consisted of 15 hours of teaching per week at the most, but the amount could be less if, for instance, language training was combined with work. Language training was also offered in the evening, during weekends and digitally or in combinations of these, and it was, therefore, to a larger degree, possible to combine it with work.

Participation in the program is compulsory in order to get support from the Danish state. In our interviews, we encountered Ukrainians who chose to work part time in a paid job while attending language courses during the rest of the week – hoping someday in the future to secure a job relevant to their competence. We also encountered those who were happy to quit the language course when they had secured a job that would sustain them, as they were not “forced” to attend courses in order to get social support. These interviewees used either English or even Ukrainian/Russian as a working language. Several interviewees accepted and appreciated the intensity of the integration process and the model of rapid transition into the labor market assisted by the job centers. Jobs were often in the service sector: cleaning, hotels, delivery firms etc. and several interviewees reported that they were working mostly together with other immigrants.

As to potential exploitation in the labor market and illicit labor, the impression given through our limited sample (14 interviewees) was that this was less widespread than in Sweden, however some interviewees noted that they had experienced or heard of such experience from people working in particular sectors such as construction work. One interviewee reported that he had been expected to work longer hours in order to compensate for his limited Danish skills.

Ukrainian demonstrations in Oslo in August 2022.
Both photos by the author.

Norway – Changing course along the way – from emphasis on language learning to expectations of fast work inclusion

Norway also has a publicly funded introduction program and language learning for refugees. Based on the misconception that most Ukrainians knew English very well, Norwegian authorities assumed that Ukrainians would enter the labor market quickly.

However, the integration program that the first arrivals of Ukrainians encountered, seemed to recognize that displaced persons need some qualification, particularly in the local language, before they are ready to enter the labor market. Usually, the Norwegian introduction program aimed at preparing the refugees for a permanent job rather than that they should “take any job” as quickly as possible.

In the autumn of 2023, 83% of the Ukrainian refugees in Norway responding to a survey stated that insufficient knowledge of Norwegian was a barrier to finding work (Hernes et. al 2023b). Since then, Norwegian authorities have implemented a stronger focus on “work related” elements in the introduction program for Ukrainian refugees. It is unclear to what extent such elements also facilitate language learning.

During our interviews, we have repeatedly encountered the mantra that you will not get a job in Norway without knowing the language, and several interviewees confirmed that this was what bureaucrats and language teachers had been telling them.

While the first arrivals in many municipalities got an extension of the six-month integration program they are entitled to (which could be prolonged), municipal resources have been put under pressure by high numbers of arrivals, and later arrivals have not necessarily been given an extension (Hernes et al. 2023b, Hernes et al . 2024). Although Ukrainian refugees are entitled to one year of language training independently of the introduction program – there was no such flexible program for language learning as in Denmark, and the actual courses offered differed a lot across municipalities (ibid). 

In 2023, Norway received a substantially higher share of Ukrainian refugees than the other two Scandinavian countries (Hernes and Danielsen 2024). Since then, Norway has implemented policies to become less attractive – and has also looked to Denmark and their model for rapid work inclusion. In any case, the government has abandoned the “language first” mantra, putting more emphasis on work, increasing the work-related components in the introduction program.

On a positive note, there was less talk about illegal work and exploitation in our interviews in Norway, suggesting that investments in integrations measures make people less vulnerable. However, the “work practice” – often offered as a part of the integration program or as a measure for labor inclusion after the introduction program – was perceived by several interviewees as a way for Norwegian employers to exploit free labor. In particular when “work practice” to a very limited extent allowed for language practice (Hernes et al. 2025).  

Scandinavian Policies Shaping the Future

The future prospects for Ukrainian refugees remain uncertain and are constrained by the temporary nature of collective protection. Although it is too early to determine which of these policies might be the most effective for integration and the long-term development of Scandinavian labor markets, there are valuable lessons to be drawn from the experiences of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

The Swedish case illustrates how past “fatigue” with immigration can negatively affect newcomers. When there is a lack of state involvement and support at various stages of refugee reception and integration, it can potentially lead to social dumping in the labor market and the growth of its grey and black sectors.

In Denmark, the flexibility of policies and a clear message promoting rapid employment are appreciated by some refugees. However, this approach also transforms them into labor migrants carrying the scars of war. Initially, only a limited number of labor market segments were accessible due to language barriers. Over time, the sustainability of stable employment may be questioned, as opportunities to practice the local language are often scarce, especially when working with fellow compatriots or other immigrants only.

Norway presents an example of how policies can change over time, disrupting the “expectation management” among both refugees and those who work with them. In practice, it has resulted in both varying rights and integration opportunities for refugees who arrived at different times, along with various visions of integration measures in Norwegian municipalities.

Different policies lead to differing integration outcomes. After more than two years of living in Scandinavian countries, Ukrainian refugees demonstrate a wide range of integration experiences—some are successfully employed in fields related to their education and speak the local language fluently, while others rely on social support and face challenges in communicating with locals. The way we prepare Ukrainian refugees for the Scandinavian labor markets and societies will impact not only the Ukrainian themselves but the Scandinavian societies as well.


Notes

[1] https://www.oslomet.no/en/research/research-projects/integration-or-return-for-ukrainian-refugees


References

Borevi, K., Jensen, K. K., & Mouritsen, P. (2017). The civic turn of immigrant integration policies in the Scandinavian welfare states. Comparative Migration Studies, 5, 1-14

Brochmann, G. (2021. From bounded universalism to the trial of internationalization: Migration and social democracy in Scandinavia. In Social Democracy in the 21st Century. Comparative Social Research. Volume 35, 195–222. Emerald Publishing Limited

Danielsen, Å. Ø., Hernes, V., Tvedt, K., Staver, A. B. (2023). Sweden country report. Governance and policy changes during times of high influxes of protection seekers, 2015-June 2023. ISBN: 978-82-8309-402-2. 36 s. OsloMet – storbyuniversitetet. Vol. 2023. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3112660

Hernes, V., Aasland, A., Deineko, A., Myhre, M.H. and Myrvold T. (2024). Settlement, integration and employment under a temporary perspective: Experiences and perceptions of Ukrainian refugees and municipal refugee services (2023-2024). NIBR Report No 10. [MM1] 

Hernes, V. and Danielsen, Å.  (2024) Reception and integration policies for displaced persons from Ukraine in the Nordic countries – a comparative analysis. [NIBR policy brief] https://oda.oslomet.no/odaxmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/3125012/NIBR%20Ukraina%20policy%20brief%20april%202024.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Hernes, V., Danielsen, Å., Tvedt, K. et al. (2023a). Governance and policy changes during times of high influxes of protection seekers A comparative governance and policy analysis in eight European countries, 2015-June 2023. Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, NIBR. NIBR-rapport: 2028:8.

Hernes, V., Aasland, A., Deineko, O., Myhre, M. H., Liodden, T., Myrvold, T., Leirvik, M. S. & Danielsen, Å. Ø. (2023b). Reception, settlement and integration of Ukrainian refugees in Norway: Experiences and perceptions of Ukrainian refugees and municipal stakeholders (2022-2023). Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, NIBR. NIBR-rapport: 2028:11.

Hernes, V, Bolvig, I and Liljeberg, L. (2022). Scandinavian integration policies for refugees. An updated comparative analysis of qualification and labour-market integration outcomes. Nordic Council og Ministers. https://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1656783/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Krzyżanowski, M. and Ekström, H.  “No longer the haven of tolerance”? The press and discursive shifts on immigration in Sweden 2010 – 2022. Social Semiotics. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2024.2352656

Tyldum, G., Kjeøy, I. and Lillevik, R. (2023). Different policies, different outcomes. The reception of Ukrainian refugees in Sweden and Norway. https://www.fafo.no/images/pub/2023/967-second-edition.pdf


About the Authors

Marthe Handå Myhre is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Oslo Metropolitan University. Her research interests include nation building and state-society relations in Ukraine and Russia, focusing on nationalism, migration and citizenship. Currently she is involved in several research projects studying the reception and integration of Ukrainian refugees in Norway and other Nordic countries. Marthe is one of the coordinators of UKRAINETT – the Norwegian network for research on Ukraine and member of the Nordic-Baltic research network Hromada.

Oleksandra Deineko is a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Oslo Metropolitan University, and an Associate Professor at the School of Sociology at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine. Her research interests include Ukrainian studies, with a focus on social cohesion, identity, trust, civil activism, and migration. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Oleksandra has concentrated on examining the social transformations within Ukrainian society during the war and the lived experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Norway. She is actively involved in several research projects exploring the reception and integration of Ukrainian refugees in Norway and other Nordic countries. Oleksandra is also a member of the Norwegian Network for Research on Ukraine (UKRAINETT), the Nordic-Baltic research network Hromada and a board member of the Sociological Association of Ukraine (SAU).


Other Recent Articles in the TRAFO Series Fragmented Lives

Taisiia Ratushna, Ukrainian Migrants’ Digital Connections to Family and Homeland during the War, 10.12.2024.

Alexander Sicheneder, Why Ukrainians Return: Motivations of Return Migration and its Implications, 26 November 2024.

Natalia Zaitseva-Chipak, Living in War: Why Ukrainian Women are Willing to Live in a Country With a Risk to their Lives, 12 November 2024.


Citation: Marthe Handå Myhre, Oleksandra Deineko, Dissimilar Integration Policies in Scandinavia: The Experience of Ukrainian Refugees, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 21.01.2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/1343h


OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
Forum Transregionale Studien (21. Januar 2025). Dissimilar Integration Policies in Scandinavia: The Experience of Ukrainian Refugees. TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. Abgerufen am 18. Februar 2025 von https://doi.org/10.58079/1343h


Forum Transregionale Studien

The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien promotes the internationalization of research in the humanities and social sciences. It provides scope for collaboration among researchers with different regional and disciplinary perspectives and appoints researchers from all over the world as Fellows. More...

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