Lithuania: Research on challenges for and intentions of those displaced from Ukraine

IOM Lithuania conducted research into the needs and intentions of people displaced from Ukraine in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. According to the results of the research survey, the main challenges for those displaced from Ukraine in Lithuania are financial stability (25% respondents identified this as their main challenge), the language barrier (21%), long-term accommodation (19%) and employment (19%). Needs for medicine, hygiene products, and clothing are ranked highly as well.

Eitvydas Bingelis, Head of Office at IOM Lithuania, said: "When it comes to the integration of Ukrainians and the challenges this poses, we see that the challenges in the other Baltic countries are not fundamentally different. In Lithuania and Latvia, financial stability is the top priority, in Estonia - the language barrier. In Latvia and Estonia, Ukrainians also face the challenges of long-term renting (17% in Latvia, 21% in Estonia) and employment (31% in Latvia, 33% in Estonia)".

Forms of assistance available to new arrivals from Ukraine were found to be broadly similar in the Baltic countries. Respondents indicated that the most common forms of assistance they accessed were food-related: 89% in Lithuania; 85% in Latvia; 76% in Estonia. A larger majority of respondents indicated that they had benefited from free transport and financial assistance.

To support migrants in Lithuania, in 2023 IOM Lithuania opened the Migration Information and Integration Centre “MICenter”. This centre offers legal and career guidance and psychological counselling, educational courses, general assistance and community activities.