Uncertainties of Temporary Protection: Forcibly Displaced People From Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The experiences of displaced persons, currently particularly from Ukraine, are reflected in the concept of temporary protection as an immediate response to mass displacement. This article proposes a consideration of temporary protection from the perspective of ‘openness’, ‘in-betweenness’ and the various forms of insecurities in people's lives in new societies and on their journeys. Refugees are connected in multi-layered networks along their routes; forced migration goes in all directions; therefore, fluidity, situational dependency and macro factors determine its dynamics. The empirical data on Ukrainian refugees in Slovenia and the consideration of the situation of Bosnian refugees in the period of the Yugoslav wars show a complex interplay of structural and individual factors that determine the position of temporarily protected persons in larger transnational networks. The article also reflects on the relational question of international protection from the perspective of ‘deservedness’ and hierarchies among different migrant groups.