Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian exiles after the invasion of Ukraine. Politicizations, interactions, solidarities and tensions – EXILEST

In the 2010s, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine experienced increased emigration linked to political and geopolitical constraints. On 24 February 2022, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia allied with Belarus triggered an unprecedented exodus of the Ukrainian population (primarily women and children), followed by more limited migration flows from Belarus and Russia. The reasons for exile differ: Political repression in the country of origin; Displacement of people living in occupied or bombed territories; Fear of being mobilised. Without equating exile from these three countries, the research starts from the observation that these populations intersect and interact in certain places, such as Lithuania, Poland and Georgia. The research analyses the repercussions of the ongoing war on individual and collective forms of politicisation and the interactions between exiles from the three countries involved in the conflict. The surveys will take place in Lithuania, Poland, and Georgia. The first objective is to study the consequences of the war on the exiles' trajectories, especially their gendered dimension and the reception conditions in the countries of arrival. The second objective is to analyse how the war has provoked and/or transformed the forms of politicisation of these three populations (political organisations, collective mobilisations, media, networks, humanitarian actions). The third objective is to understand the relations between these three populations, by analysing the forms of interaction, solidarity and tensions or even conflicts at four levels: everyday interactions; NGOs and associations; media; political organisations in exile. Finally, the fourth objective is to grasp these circulations in their historical depth.