An anti-immigrant information campaign has been launched in Ukraine
The State Migration Service recorded the first reports of Ukrainians allegedly being replaced by migrants in the labor market in late January 2025.
This was reported by State Migration Service Chairwoman Natalia Naumenko on the program “IPSO and People.”
“Our analytical center tried to find that ‘patient zero’ who started these narratives on Telegram channels, YouTube, and in society. After analyzing the data, we concluded that it all began around January 25–27, 2025, when it was reported in Zakarpattia Oblast that a private furniture company in Tyachiv was negotiating to hire 160 Bangladeshi citizens to work at a furniture factory due to a shortage of skilled workers,” Naumenko said.
According to her, three months later, the recruitment was canceled, and the foreign workers did not arrive in Zakarpattia because the company had not completed the permit application process.
However, the news itself became a media sensation and triggered the first wave of posts on pro-Russian Telegram channels. “The case continues to be cited by propaganda as evidence of the start of a mass influx of migrants into Ukraine, despite the fact that no actual influx took place,” noted the head of the State Migration Service.
Naumenko stated that since then, the anti-migrant campaign has gone through several phases, with the fifth currently expected. The head of the State Migration Service admits that on the eve of the second reading in the Verkhovna Rada of Bill 14211 regarding the employment of foreigners and stateless persons, another round is possible, in particular “new disinformation campaigns created using AI, and new so-called experts.”
At the same time, Naumenko emphasized the harmfulness of the narratives that some pseudo-experts are voicing in the media. “They (say—ed.): ‘We support the fact that our boys are fighting, defending the country on the front lines, while you are trying to implement a policy of replacing our citizens with foreigners.’ In reality, no one has set such goals, and no such policy is being developed... or implemented,” the head of the State Migration Service assured.
The head of the State Migration Service also noted that the migration situation in the country is under control, predictable, and sufficiently safe, given the current realities.
“The migration situation here is under control, predictable, and sufficiently safe, given the circumstances in which we find ourselves amid a full-scale war,” she noted.
Naumenko reported that the government has already instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Migration Service, and other agencies to develop a national migration policy strategy for the future.
“We deliberately did not opt for five- or ten-year periods; we want to develop a high-quality migration strategy, and only then, when we develop implementation plans, will specific timeframes be determined. This means that we are analyzing the migration situation before the war, what we have now, and trying to identify the risks and benefits of migration policy that will exist in the post-war period,” the official said.
She noted that experts from all government agencies, scholars, European partners, and international institutions will be involved in developing the state migration policy strategy. This primarily includes the International Organization for Migration and its experts, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its experts, and several other European and international organizations.
“Sometime toward the end of the year, it (the strategy—ed.) will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration... Any migration policy intersects with security, social, and economic spheres, with human rights, the protection of migrants, and law enforcement aspects, so we tried to break them down into clusters,” Naumenko noted.
According to her, the first cluster to be drafted and discussed was security.
“Then there was the cluster on asylum seekers and refugees, on irregular migration, on regular migration, which includes labor migration... as well as internally displaced persons and the return of our citizens to Ukraine,” she added.
The head of the State Migration Service explained that a person could be a tourist in Ukraine today, and the next day—for example—obtain a work permit or marry a Ukrainian citizen, then become an asylum seeker or refugee, and eventually become a citizen of Ukraine.
“That is why we are trying to address all these aspects and risks in this draft strategy and strike the right balance. The two main aspects are national security and the return of our citizens,” Naumenko noted.
She stated that all other issues will stem from this.
“We believe that the demographic situation cannot in any way be... corrected by attracting foreign citizens to Ukraine. Therefore, this is not even being considered; we need to look for other ways to balance demographic policy,” the head of the State Migration Service informed.
The State Migration Service deniedclaims of a mass influx of labor migrants into Ukraine.
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