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Settlement, integration and employment under a temporary perspective: Experiences and perceptions of Ukrainian refugees and municipal refugee services (2023-2024)

As the war in Ukraine continues – currently in its third year since the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022 – Norway has continued to receive a steady flow of displaced persons from Ukraine (hereafter Ukrainian refugees). As of October 2024, Norway had received 86 000 applications for collective, temporary protection, and Ukrainian refugees now constitute 1,5% of the total population of Norway. Although there has been a decline in number of arrivals and settlements in Norwegian municipalities in 2024 compared to 2022 and 2023, the numbers are still record-high compared to previous influxes. After February 2022, there was an initial period of more liberal policies for Ukrainian refugees. However, after the fall of 2023 where Norway had relatively high arrivals compared to the other Scandinavian countries, the Norwegian government introduced a series of policy restrictions to ensure that Norway did not have more favourable policies for Ukrainian refugees than other European countries. This report is part of an annual study conducted by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR), OsloMet on assignment from the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi). It aims to answer the following main research questions: 1. How do Ukrainian refugees experience their reception, settlement and integration in Norway, and what are their aspirations for the future? 2. What are the municipalities’ assessments of the challenges and opportunities related to the reception, settlement and integration of Ukrainian refugees? The study builds on various types of data collections, conducted between February and November 2024, including: 1) individual and group interviews with 43 Ukrainian refugees in Norway, 2) a survey of adult Ukrainians who had fled to Norway (1548 respondents), 3) case studies in four municipalities with interviews with a total of 66 frontline workers, volunteers and employers1, 4) a survey of leaders in the municipal refugee service (63% response rate from all Norwegian municipalities), and 5) documentation of policy developments from February 2022 to October 2024.