We were delighted to take part in the annual conference of the Committee on Migration Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, hosted this year by this year hosted at the University of Marie Curie-Skłodowska in Lublin.
Our team contributed to several important discussions, focusing on the intersections of forced migration, inequality, and Roma experiences of displacement:
🔹 “Do Roma also flee from war?” (“A to Romowie też uciekają przed wojną?”) — Monika Szewczyk and Elżbieta Mirga Wójtowicz examined how stereotypical perceptions of Roma shape the public reception of Romani refugees from Ukraine. Drawing on our qualitative research and monitoring since the start of the full-scale war, we showed how entrenched stereotypes—such as the association of Roma with nomadism—erase the centrality of kher (home) in Romani culture, and delegitimize Roma experiences of fleeing war. These narratives often dehumanize Roma by framing them as “undeserving” or manipulative, reinforcing antigypsyism and exclusion.
🔹 “(Non)temporary spaces: Ukrainian Roma in collective accommodation centres – between neutrality and exclusion” (“Przestrzenie (nie)tymczasowe: ukraińscy Romowie w ośrodkach zakwaterowania zbiorowego – między neutralnością a wykluczeniem”) — Kamila Fiałkowska and Elżbieta-Mirga Wójtowicz explored life in collective accommodation centres for Ukrainian Roma in Poland. Initially designed as temporary spaces, many have become quasi-permanent, revealing the gap between declared “neutral” policies and everyday practices. Despite claims of colour-blindness, institutional responses often reinforce structural antigypsyism, marginalizing Roma refugees and shifting responsibility onto them through stereotypes of “difficult cooperation.” Our ethnographic research highlights how these spaces reproduce inequality while being embedded in local social structures.
🔹 “Precarious citizenship and migratory encounters in the context of Roma internal displacement in Ukraine: Problems of belonging and diversity” (“Niepewne obywatelstwo i migracyjne spotkania w kontekście przymusowych migracji wewnętrznych Romów w Ukrainie: Problemy z przynależnością i różnorodnością”) — Ignacy Jóźwiak presented findings from fieldwork in Zakarpattia, Ukraine, among local Roma and Roma IDPs displaced from occupied and frontline regions. This research sheds light on how war-related displacement has brought together diverse Romani groups, revealing differences of language, religion, and everyday life. These “migratory encounters” both challenge and reconfigure belonging, while exposing the vulnerabilities of Roma in contexts of forced migration and limited mobility.
These discussions underscore how unequal citizenship, stereotyping, and institutional practices shape the experiences of Roma refugees and IDPs – while also showing how Roma navigate, contest, and reconfigure these exclusions.
