In view of the labor shortage in Ukraine as a result of the war, the Federal Government is considering how people who have fled Ukraine can be supported in returning to their homeland. “There are considerations as to how we could support people in their new beginning in Ukraine,” said Development Minister Svenja Schulze to the “Tagesspiegel” when asked whether financial incentives for refugees were planned. “Models of so-called circular migration, i.e. a temporary return, are also conceivable,” Schulze continued.
The skilled workers alliance, which is to be launched at the reconstruction conference for Ukraine planned for June in Berlin, will deal with this topic in more detail, said Schulze. At the same time, she emphasized: “We will not force anyone to return to Ukraine if he or she does not want to.” Germany offers protection. “This promise stands.”
Schulze announced at the end of April that he wanted to support the reconstruction of Ukraine with an international skilled workers initiative. People are particularly needed in the health sector as well as in reconstruction and house building. Doctors, psychologists, roofers and architects were missing, said the SPD politician. Since the start of the war, millions of Ukrainians have fled abroad, and tens of thousands of skilled workers are serving in the army. The Ukraine Reconstruction Conference will take place in Berlin on June 11th and 12th.
The skilled workers’ alliance is intended to train women, “because it is primarily they who now also take on the work of men, who in turn make up the majority of the fighting units,” said Schulze. “We train them for short-term help in emergency medicine, and for long-term ones as electricians or engineers.” They also want to ensure “that qualifications acquired abroad are easily recognized by returnees in Ukraine – which, by the way, is also an anticipation of the EU Accession.”
