Ukraine’s full-scale war with Russia has produced one of the largest displacement crises in modern European history. While significant scholarly attention has been devoted to the social protection and housing challenges of internally displaced persons (IDP), a critical legal dimension has gone largely unaddressed: the situation of Ukrainians who have returned from abroad, numbering an estimated 1.2 to 1.6 million persons by 2025, and the fragmented, legally inadequate framework governing the restoration of their family status, civil documentation, and social benefits upon return. The purpose of this article is to identify, through doctrinal and comparative analysis, the specific legislative gaps in the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons” (No. 1706-VIII of 2014) and related instruments with respect to returning displaced persons, and to propose a targeted statutory reform package. Current Ukrainian law is assessed against the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, ECHR Article 8 positive obligations doctrine, and the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions. The study identifies four principal legislative gaps: (1) the absence of a dedicated legal status for returning displaced persons; (2) the lack of a fast-track procedure for recognition of civil documents obtained abroad during displacement; (3) the absence of a family-unit registration mechanism enabling simultaneous restoration of family status upon return; and (4) the absence of an enforceable right to family unity support pending full return of all family members. Concrete amendments are proposed to Law No. 1706-VIII and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 509 of 2014 to remedy each gap. The scientific contribution of this article is the first legal analysis of returning migrants in Ukraine as a separate subject of immigration and family law reform, distinct from both the IDP protection literature and the refugee law literature, producing a legislative reform package actionable by the Verkhovna Rada.

Authored books

1. Jauhiainen J S, From Ukraine to the European Union and Back: Ukrainians’ Return Migration and Reintegration (Routledge 2026).

2. Kalin W, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: Annotations (2nd edn, Brookings Institution Press 2008) 61–64.

Journal articles

3. Jauhiainen J S, ‘Reintegration of War-Fleeing Ukrainians After Their Return to Ukraine’ [2026] 64(1) International Migration https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.70124.

4. Sasse G, Lackner A, ‘The Displaced as ‘Ordinary Citizens’: Exploring Variation in the Political Attitudes of the Displaced from Donbas’ [2020] 72(3) Europe-Asia Studies 354–382 https:// doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2020.1725448.

5. Libanova E, Pozniak O, Tsymbal O, ‘Masshtaby ta naslidky vymushenoi mihratsii naselennia Ukrainy vnaslidok zbroinoi ahresii Rosiiskoi Federatsii’ [2022] 48(2) Demohrafiia ta sotsialna ekonomika 37–57 https://doi.org/10.15407/dse2022.02.037 (in Ukrainian). 50 Kalin (n 26) 80–84.

Websites

6. Available services and support in Ukraine: Frequently Asked Questions on Return to Ukraine (Ukraine is Home) (accessed 18.04.2026).

7. Forced Displacement from Territory of Ukraine Occupied by the Russian Federation: Barriers to Return and the Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, 24 February 2022 – 31 December 2025 (OHCHR, UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, March 2026) (accessed 20.04.2026) paras 5–6.

8. IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons (UN OCHA, 5 April 2010) 9–10 (accessed 18.04.2026).

9. Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions (Council of Europe Office in Ukraine) (accessed 18.04.2026).

10. Obtaining an IDP Certificate: Current Instructions (Stabilization Support Services, 22.12.2025) (accessed 18.04.2026).

11. Protection of displaced Ukrainians: Council adopts recommendation about transition out of temporary protection (EU Council, 16 September 2025) (accessed 18.04.2026).

12. Ukraine – IDP Allowance Update: The Impact of the March 2024 Law Amendment on Ukraine’s Internally Displaced Population – September 2024 (International Organization for Migration, Sep 19 2024) (accessed 18.04.2026).

13. Ukraine – Internal Displacement Report – General Population Survey Round 16 (April 2024) (International Organization for Migration (IOM)) (accessed 20.04.2026).

14. Ukraine Refugee Situation (UNHCR, Operational Data Portal) (accessed 20.04.2026).

15. Ukraine’s Strategic Response to the Displacement Crisis: Return, Reintegrate, Reconnect (OECD, 20 March 2026) (accessed 20.04.2026).