The Impact of Displacement on Romani Ukrainian Refugees in Poland and Externalized ‘Deserving’ of Aid
摘要
In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Poland has received approximately 1.6 million refugees from Ukraine (The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ukraine Refugee Situation, 2024). Refugees of Romani ethnicity have experienced aspects of discrimination that impacted their lived experiences and prospects in displacement. Romani refugees endure double marginalization in this crisis, being Romani minority and refugees during the times of rising anti-refugee sentiment across European continent. This chapter aims to show which discriminatory factors impacted the experiences of Romani refugees from Ukraine and how sociopolitical actors differentiated between those who deserved aid and those who did not. Specifically, it focuses on externalized levels of ‘deservingness’ in the form of hate-speech, stories of discriminatory experiences when searching for housing, incorporating a strong grassroots community, anti-Gypsyism of education of Romani refugee children, and ultimately bridging refugee issues and Romani issues. This chapter analyzes how displacement and ethnic minority co-exist in a world of rising anti-refugee sentiment. Based in research results, it presents how refugee families dealt with the challenges of being portrayed as ‘the others’ by different actors of humanitarian community and state. It situated the issue of labeling and ‘othering’ in an intersection of Roma studies and refugee studies, anti-Gypyism, and ultimately anti-refugee sentiment. I argue that this (un)deservingness is an outcome of long-term labeling and ‘othering’ of Romani people, which ultimately contributes to anti-Gypsyism as well as the anti-refugee sentiment in Europe. This chapter is based on semistructured interviews and observations done during ethnographic fieldwork in Poland between August 2023 and June 2024.