When the missile alarm goes off these days, as it often does, Kateryna Potapenko (28) rushes into the hallway and gets there to safety. Her mother Svitlana, on the other hand, stays in the living room. She just draws the curtains. And turn up the volume on the TV. “We have all found our own way of dealing with the danger,” the daughter says dryly.
Kateryna Potapenko is a journalist. She lives with her family in a high-rise building in Kiev. Not far from where Russian troops launched their attack on February 24. “For the first few days, we constantly heard the shelling and bombing of the Russians,” the young woman recalls. Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel: The places of horror are less than ten kilometers from where they live.
escape early march
At the beginning of March, Kateryna fled with her mother and brother to Switzerland, to Winterthur ZH. A little later, she finds a job as a guest columnist for the “Observer”, in her spare time she organizes meetings for Ukrainian women in the library. She brings people together as she always has: she runs a book club in Kiev.
Kateryna Potapenko has fond memories of the four months in Winterthur. “Switzerland is a country like a postcard,” she says, “I love the nature there.” She was also impressed by the punctuality of the bus and train.
And yet: «I always knew that I would return to Kiev. I have a good life here.” In July she, her mother and her brother pack their bags and travel back home via Germany and Poland, where their father is waiting for them.
Minority returns so far
Kateryna Potapenko belongs to a small minority of the returnees. According to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), about 66,000 refugees have been granted protection status since February. Since then, 1800 of them have used return assistance and returned to Ukraine – less than three percent of all refugees.
However, the cases where SEM has revoked S status are more than twice as common. Protection status was terminated for 4,600 people. Among them are probably Ukrainians who went home without return aid; others probably traveled on to other countries.
Potapenko is less stressed in Kiev
Potapenko feels more at ease in Kiev than in Switzerland. Moreover, she even feels safer: “In Switzerland I was always on my mobile. If there were an attack in our neighborhood, I would call everyone I knew who lived there.” If you couldn’t reach someone, you had to assume the worst: “It was exhausting.”
Back in Kiev she is less stressed. “Our neighborhood is huge. If there’s an attack, I’ll find out roughly where it happened.” If something really happened to someone, she’d rather be there to help.
A return like Kateryna Potapenko dared is not an issue for Svetlana Naumenko (49). In Kiev, she had a prestigious job as an assistant in the Ukrainian parliament; in Switzerland she currently lives on benefits and is taking a language course. And yet she says, “Of course I want to stay.” An attitude that – judging by the numbers – is shared by many Ukrainians.
Naumenko wants to develop professionally
Naumenko thinks she would feel unsafe in Kiev. “Since the massacres in Bucha and Irpin, in which women and children were raped, every Ukrainian woman has thought twice about returning.”
In Switzerland, on the other hand, she sees opportunities for professional development, says the trained psychologist. “The need for psychological help is great, also among the refugees.” She also appreciates the state’s social network.
So far she has not been able to find a job. Svetlana Naumenko barely speaks German. At the same time, many employers are reluctant to hire people with S status. Finally, in the spring it was said that the protection status was limited to one year.
U-turn at the federal level?
Meanwhile, the federal government sounds a little different. The protection is in effect until the Federal Council revokes it, the SEM said. The status S therefore does not have to be extended explicitly. The Confederation will also coordinate on this with the Schengen States. And as the EU commission has voted to extend the status until March 2024, Switzerland is likely to follow.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (58) has prepared a report on how to shape the return of the refugees after S status has been revoked. Valentin Vogt (62), president of the Employers’ Association, would appreciate the staggered return. “For example, if someone has a job, that person can stay here longer than someone who doesn’t have a job,” he says.
S-Status is efficiency-oriented
However, it is also important to dispel any illusions of refugees: “The S status is return-oriented. It is not the intention that the refugees will remain permanently in Switzerland after the end of the war.”
For Svetlana Naumenko, however, a return still seems a long way off. Your goal is to find a job as quickly as possible. “I would also work in a hotel or restaurant,” says the trained psychologist.
Meanwhile, Kateryna Potapenko has quickly adapted to her new life in Kiev. The biggest difference from the past is that you can no longer plan things in advance, she says. That doesn’t stop her from traveling. “Last week I went with a friend to Chernivtsi on the Moldovan border.” They didn’t need too much lead time: “We had the idea – a few hours later we were on our way.”