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Comment by derefr | Hacker News Reader

One obvious distinction the article doesn't make, is between people fleeing their country temporarily with intent to return, vs. indefinitely. Syrian refugees have no expectation of ever going back to Syria. Ukrainian refugees can probably go back home within the year.

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Many Ukraiians work abroad, mainly in Poland and Germany, but they need some investment for it. Now that so many Ukrainians are in Poland and in Germany, I doubt most will go back anytime soon, especially given the destruction back home.

Whether or not that's the case, they are not perceived as such. Europeans may be mistaken in believing Ukrainians just want temporary shelter and Syrians are coming to stay, but whether it's true or false doesn't matter. It's this belief that affects their attitude.

I did hear on the Bulgarian TV some Ukrainians openly saying: "We're gonna learn the language, we're gonna work in Bulgaria." That won't be news as most of our seasonal work was already done by Ukrainians, but speaking to Ukrainians who do seasonal work in Poland and Germany - they've shared to me that they were often treated as cattle.

> Ukrainian refugees can probably go back home within the year.

They probably won't go back if they can. Ukraine is a very poor country, at least by European standards. [1]

Because of their brave resistance to the invasion, we tend to see the country in an overly optimistic light.

[1]: It's the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Ukraine

It's still their home. You're applying your outsider judgement and not considering how the actual people involved might feel. A lot of those refugees are leaving for safety while someone stays behind to fight for a place they can return to.

Another distinction is that almost all Ukrainian refugees are women and children.

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