Ethnic Self-Identification of Eastern-Ukrainian IDPs Throughout the Conflict and Associated Mobility Process Master’s Thesis in Sociology Migration and ethnic studies track University of Amsterdam By Mariia Shaidrova Student number 11128305 Supervisor: Apostolos Andrikopoulos Second reader: Prof. Dr. H.G Hein de Haas Date of submission 30/06/2016 Abstract Eastern Ukraine (Donbas region) has been suffering from an armed conflict (May 2014 - present day). This conflict has led to the internal displacement of at least 1.5 million people and is characterized by an explicit ethnic component (Ukrainian-Russian; West-East). It provides an excellent case study for understanding the interaction between ethnicity and mobility in the context of a conflict. The goals of this research were twofold. Firstly, to study how ethnicities were affected throughout the conflict situation and associated migration flows. Secondly, to understand what role ethnic self-identification played in the mobility decisions of IDPs. My analysis combines multi-level mobility theories (e.g., Faist, 2000) with a constructivist approach to ethnicity (e.g. Nagel,1994; Chandra, 2006 ). My research illustrates how these theories intersect in the situation of Eastern Ukraine. The study has a qualitative design, based on in-depth interviews which were analyzed using thematic analysis. These were conducted with 22 respondents from Donetsk and Luhansk (currently living in Kiev and Kharkiv), obtained through snowball sampling. All respondents reported that both the Ukrainian and Russian ethnicities had become more salient and more strongly linked to politics since the conflict began. This political perception of ethnicity redefined the existing ethnic boundaries. To resolve the resulting tensions, some IDPs separated their political views from their ethnicity, referring to themselves as “apolitical Ukrainians” or “Donbas people”. For other IDPs, the strong disappointment in the ruling elite (of both sides of the conflict) led to the experience of “ethnic limbo”, as they refrained from associating themselves with any ethnic group. The interviewed IDPs appeared to have formed a new, completely separate identity of being “Donbas resettlers”. The factors which contributed to this new identity were social exclusion and discrimination in the host cities, quarrels with relatives and friends, and experience of a border between Donbas and the rest of Ukraine. Among my respondents, I observed notable cases of IDPs for whom ethnic self-identification played an important role during at least one of the stages of mobility. This influence was especially strong for those who practiced public professions (journalists, teachers, police) when their views were at odds with the new authorities in Donbas. At some point during the conflict, it became life threatening to publicly identify oneself as Ukrainian on the territory of the self-proclaimed republics. Therefore, safety reasons in case of public self-identification played a crucial role in migration decisions of IDPs. In the later stages of mobility, ethnic self-identification was involved in quarrels with relatives which could push IDPs to relocate or return to the conflict-affected region. 2 Table of the contents Section 1. Introduction Section 2. Methodology 2.1 Preparation 2.2 Sampling strategy 2.3 Data collection and method of analysis 2.4 Researcher’s background Section 3. Theory and Background 3.1 Internally displaced due to the conflict 3.2 Constructivist approach to ethnicity 3.3 Mobility theories 3.4 Background 3.4.1 General History 3.4.2 Ukrainian patriotic movements of the 19th century 3.4.3 The history of Donbas region 3.4.4 The conflict in Ukraine 2014-2016 Section 4. Results and analysis 4.1 The change of the experience of ethnicity as a result of the conflict and mobility process 4.1.1 Political and ethnic identities of IDPs from Eastern Ukraine 4.1.2 Emergence of “ethnic limbo” in IDPs’ narratives 4.1.3 The emphasis on Donbas origin 4.1.4 The change of ethnic self-identification among those who stayed in the conflict affected areas 4.1.5 Donbas “Resettlers” ethnic identity 4.1.6 Ethnographic notes from the field: “It is just Europe trying to atone for their sins” 4.2 The role of ethnic self-identification in the migration process of IDPs from Eastern Ukraine 4.2.1 The first stage of mobility 4.2.2 Social networks in the initial and relocation stages of mobility 4.2.3 The decision to stay in conflict affected-areas 4.2.4 Further mobility stages, consideration of permanent stay 4.2.5 The return stage 4.2.6 Conflict between imposed and real values among IDPs involved in public spheres Section 5. Discussion and Conclusion Research question 1. Research question 2. References Annex 3 Section 1. Introduction The main focus of this research is the internally displaced persons (henceforth - IDPs) who are fleeing from conflict-affected areas. The research is based on the case study of Ukraine. Special attention is paid on (1) what ethnic identities became more salient in the beginning of the conflict; (2) how ethnic self-identification evolved during the migration process of IDPs from Eastern Ukraine; (3) the role of ethnic self-identification in the migration decisions of IDPs. In 2014, protests in Ukraine developed into a serious international armed conflict which is still ongoing in the Eastern part of the country, namely in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In August 2015, up to 1.5 million people were officially recognized as internally displaced persons by The Ministry of Social Policy in Ukraine. Since not all IDPs have registered in official state services it is likely that the actual figure is even larger. Following the conflict, in two Ukrainian regions there were created self-proclaimed Luhansk1 (June, 2014) and Donetsk2 (May, 2014) “republics”, both were recognized only by Republic of South Ossetia that has very limited recognition itself. The self-proclaimed republics were created on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to the UNHCR, only 383.0003 people were seeking asylum in Russia (August, 2015)4. This figure points to the fact that majority of Eastern Ukrainians were migrating within the Ukrainian border. People who flee from the conflict could have different considerations, but taking into account the fact that the conflict had from the beginning bright political and ethnic component especially regarding pro-Russian and pro-Western views of South-Eastern and 1 Henceforth LNR - Luhansk National Republic 2 Henceforth DNR - Donetsk National Republic 3 This figure represents registered asylum-seekers only, it does not include people who moved to Russia with different considerations such as, for instance, job offer. 4 UNHCR Map. Ukraine Internally Displaced People. 21st of August 2015. Retrieved from:http://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Ukraine%20Internally%20Displaced%20People%20M ap%2021AUG15.pdf 4 Central-Western Ukrainians, ethnic self-identification plays its role in mobility process of IDPs (Metzger et al., 2016). Ethnic self-identification is a dynamic process, that is constructed or reconstructed under specific historical, political, personal factors. Chandra (2012) argued that one person can possess several ethnicities, at the same time it does not mean people use all available ethnicities in their routine interactions. Although in this research I stick to the constructivist approach to ethnicity, I still argue that among ethnicities available to one person there are ones that are more difficult to reconstruct, and this reconstruction will take a long time, or it might be impossible to change. For instance, descent-based attributes of ethnicity such as place of birth, parents’ ethnicity. Often these descent-based attributes to ethnicity are available to people, but they are not used in daily interactions. Nevertheless, under some circumstances they might become activated. The conflict can become a trigger for such activation (Kalyvas, 2008). For example, people might never thought about the fact that their father is Russian, but in the beginning of the conflict they would decide to use this fact to justify their desire to become Russian citizens. I hypothesize that this evolution of ethnic self- identification or even situational use of several ethnicities can be triggered not only by the conflict, but the migration process and life experience in the host societies. The salience of one ethnicity in the beginning of the conflict might evolve in migration process. I attempt to connect mobility theories with constructivist approach to ethnicity, looking at how the conflict served as a trigger for some ethnicities to become more salient and how further mobility process can affect these activated ethnicities and change the way people perceived themselves in the beginning. My thesis focuses on two main research questions: (1) how does the ethnic self-identification of IDPs from Eastern Ukraine evolve in the development of an armed conflict and the following migration? 5 (2) what is the role of ethnicity in migration decisions of IDPs from Eastern Ukraine throughout different stages of mobility process? My thesis will consist of five main sections and each section will include subsections. The first section consists of Introduction. The second one covers Methodology of the study. In the third section I discuss the theoretical framework and the necessary background information on the history of Donbas, political situation, and the conflict development. In the theoretical framework I describe in detail how ethnicity is being constructed. The background information is included to illustrate historical component of ethnicity construction in Donbas. Additionally, this subsection assisted in better understanding of IDPs’ narratives that included historical references. The fourth section is dedicated to the results and analysis of the study and divided into two main subsections according to the research questions mentioned above: (1) experience of ethnicity that is being changed as a result of the conflict and mobility; (2) the role of ethnicity in migration decisions of IDPs.