Psychotraumatology of the war in Ukraine: The question of the psychological care of victims who are refugees or who remain in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is a major poly-traumatic event, which leads to massive population displacements. The question of the evaluation and psychological care of psychotraumatised people is an urgent matter. As many countries hosting refugees are well endowed with a number of psychologists, some of these interested professionals should mobilise themselves and make themselves known to carry out these clinical acts. Priority should be given to trained and experienced psychologists to support victims. The language barrier will have to be overcome. Initially, it would be desirable to make contact or get closer to local and national refugee centres to facilitate these operations. Face-to-face or remote consultations, as developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, are possible. Reinforcements of available and dedicated psychologists, including remotely, from the countries hosting the most refugees are also desirable. The issue of detection, assessment and care of psychologically traumatised people who remained in the Ukrainian territory is probably even more massive. Whether non-combatants or combatants, part of the international psychological community should mobilise, in addition to local colleagues, to provide them with this psychological help. These humanitarian actions would be feasible depending on the evolution of the conflict. Whether it is psychological support for refugees or people still on the Ukrainian soil, models for organizing and coordinating these actions must be carefully thought out and implemented in an evolving way to optimise their effectiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (French) La guerre en Ukraine est un evenement polytraumatique majeur qui donne lieu a des deplacements massifs de population. La question de l'evaluation et de la prise en charge psychologique des personnes psychotraumatisees se pose de facon urgente. De multiples pays d'accueil de refugies etant bien dotes en nombre de psychologues, une partie de ces professionnels interesses devrait se mobiliser et se faire connaitre pour realiser ces actes cliniques. La priorite devrait etre donnee aux psychologues formes et experimentes pour prendre en charge les victimes. La barriere de la langue devra etre surmontee. Dans un premier temps, une prise de contact ou un rapprochement aupres des dispositifs locaux et nationaux d'accueil des refugies serait souhaitable pour faciliter ces operations. Des consultations en presentiel ou en distantiel, comme cela a ete developpe pendant la pandemie de Covid-19, sont envisageables. Des renforts en psychologues, y compris a distance, des pays accueillant le plus de refugies sont egalement souhaitables. La question de la detection, de l'evaluation et de la prise en charge des personnes psychologiquement traumatisees restees sur le territoire ukrainien est probablement encore plus massive. Que ce soit des non-combattants ou des combattants, une partie de la communaute psy internationale devrait se mobiliser, en complement des collegues locaux, pour leur apporter cette aide psychologique. Ces actions humanitaires seraient realisables en fonction de l'evolution du conflit. Qu'il s'agisse de soutien psychologique aux refugies ou aux personnes sur le sol ukrainien, des modeles d'organisation et de coordination de ces actions doivent etre penses et mis en place de facon evolutive pour en optimiser l'efficacite. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Virtual special issue: Internal migration in times of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has potentially altered the system of population movement around the world. As COVID-19 hit cities the hardest in the wake of the pandemic, apocalyptic headlines anticipated the ‘death of cities'. Yet, little was known about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cities and the ways it has shaped the patterns of internal population movement in and out of cities. This virtual special issue aims to consolidate our knowledge of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on internal migration, discuss key lessons we have learnt so far, and identify areas for future enquiry. It brings together evidence from six different countries: Australia, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, covering the pandemic in varying temporal lengths. Systematic patterns emerge. A first commonality is an overall reduction of internal migration rates during the early days of the pandemic but to a lesser degree than expected. Second, the impacts of COVID-19 leading to out-migration from cities seem to have been temporary, though evidence from Spain and Britain points to scarring effects with persistent losses in highly dense areas. Third, changes in internal migration generated small impacts on the population structure of cities but large-scale changes in small, rural and low-density areas. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE, THE FACE OF FACELESS: THE ORDEAL OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN INDIA DURING THE FIRST WAVE OF COVID-19

In May 2020, when the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic was galloping at a high rate and the entire world's economy was brought almost to a standstill, there was fear and confusion all over. During the ongoing lockdown in India, a newspaper report published in the Hindustan Times shook the hearts of Indians. A small toddler tried in vain to shake up his mother who died on a railway platform in Muzaffarpur Bihar, India. She was a migrant worker, trying to return to her hometown due to the lockdown. (Singh, 2020). Such migrant crises and tragic stories were reported daily. The report posed a big question mark on the law and administration. The present study tried to capture the disaster and migrant crisis that unfolded since the implementation of the first nationwide lockdown in India with effect from March 24, 2020. The study also investigated the role of government agencies to curb the Exodus and provide relief to the millions and millions of interstate migrant workers. It aimed to figure out the reasons for the inefficacy of the government schemes and to understand the role of NGOs and locals who contributed to the relief measures. It also reveals that the worst-hit people due to the lockdown were the undocumented workers of the informal sector. It highlights the short-sightedness of the administration and the apathy shown towards the migrant crisis. The study also brings forward the commendable role of the NGOs and the locals who provided relief to the underprivileged section of the Indian economy. It demonstrates how at times even small efforts can go on to bring huge relief and encourages the participation of common citizens in times of crisis. It also foregrounds the fact that in India, among these migrants the fear of uncertainty and starvation was greater than the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022, Supporting Academic Initiatives Foundation. All rights reserved.

Psychotraumatology of the war in Ukraine: The question of the psychological care of victims who are refugees or who remain in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is a major poly-traumatic event, which leads to massive population displacements. The question of the evaluation and psychological care of psychotraumatised people is an urgent matter. As many countries hosting refugees are well endowed with a good number of psychologists, some of these interested professionals should mobilise themselves and make themselves known to carry out these clinical acts. Priority should be given to trained and experienced psychologists to support victims. The language barrier will have to be overcome. Initially, it would be desirable to make contact or get closer to local and national refugee centres to facilitate these operations. Face-to-face or remote consultations, as developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, are possible. Reinforcements of the number of available and dedicated psychologists, including remotely, from the countries hosting the most refugees, are also desirable. The issue of detection, assessment and care of psychologically traumatised people who remained on the Ukrainian territory is probably even more massive. Whether non-combatants or combatants, part of the international psychological community should mobilise, in addition to local colleagues, to provide them with this psychological help. These humanitarian actions would be feasible depending on the evolution of the conflict. Whether it is psychological support for refugees or people still on the Ukrainian soil, models for organising and coordinating these actions must be carefully considered and implemented in an evolving way to optimise their effectiveness. © 2022

Enhancing the productive engagement of COVID-19-driven workers' exodus through micro-entrepreneurship: accentuated role of de-globalization and local innovations

Komboltz's happenstance learning theory (HLT) posits that uncertainty in the environment has a deep impact on occupational choices. Accordingly, the choice of occupation is the outcome of planned and unplanned events during the life cycle of a person. Through evidence from literature, this article draws theoretical strength to a conceptual framework in which the affective status of COVID-19-driven workers' exodus (an unplanned event) could encourage them to undertake micro-entrepreneurship as an occupational choice. The framework extends the HLT by adding risk propensity in a mediating role and evaluates de-globalization and local innovation as exogenous changes in influencing micro-entrepreneurial initiatives. The interplay between affective status, risk propensity, and micro-entrepreneurship in light of de-globalization and local innovation is conceptualized uniquely, and in this manner, the study presents a novel application of HLT. As an outcome, the framework supports the idea that in a situation of forceful reverse migration, affective status along with risk propensity, in an environment of reducing globalization as well as local innovations, is advantageous for micro-entrepreneurship. The proposed framework offers insight into the productive engagement of COVID-19-driven workers' exodus, thus abating the remigration of workers, which would be a win-win situation for rural and urban societies.

Urban exodus? Understanding human mobility in Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic using Meta-Facebook data.

Existing empirical work has focused on assessing the effectiveness of nonpharmaceutical interventions on human mobility to contain the spread of COVID-19. Less is known about the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the spatial patterns of population movement within countries. Anecdotal evidence of an urban exodus from large cities to rural areas emerged during early phases of the pandemic across western societies. Yet, these claims have not been empirically assessed. Traditional data sources, such as censuses offer coarse temporal frequency to analyse population movement over infrequent time intervals. Drawing on a data set of 21 million observations from Meta-Facebook users, we aim to analyse the extent and evolution of changes in the spatial patterns of population movement across the rural-urban continuum in Britain over an 18-month period from March 2020 to August 2021. Our findings show an overall and sustained decline in population movement during periods of high stringency measures, with the most densely populated areas reporting the largest reductions. During these periods, we also find evidence of higher-than-average mobility from high-density population areas to low-density areas, lending some support to claims of large-scale population movements from large cities. Yet, we show that these trends were temporary. Overall mobility levels trended back to precoronavirus levels after the easing of nonpharmaceutical interventions. Following these interventions, we found a reduction in movement to low-density areas and a rise in mobility to high-density agglomerations. Overall, these findings reveal that while COVID-19 generated shock waves leading to temporary changes in the patterns of population movement in Britain, the resulting vibrations have not significantly reshaped the prevalent structures in the national pattern of population movement. As of 2021, internal population movements sit at an intermediate level between those observed pre- and early phases of the pandemic.

Psychotraumatologie de la guerre en Ukraine : la question de la prise en charge psychologique des victimes réfugiées ou restées en Ukraine

Résumé La guerre en Ukraine est un événement polytraumatique majeur qui donne lieu à des déplacements massifs de population. La question de l’évaluation et de la prise en charge psychologique des personnes psychotraumatisées se pose de façon urgente. De multiples pays d’accueil de réfugiés étant bien dotés en nombre de psychologues, une partie de ces professionnels intéressés devrait se mobiliser et se faire connaître pour réaliser ces actes cliniques. La priorité devrait être donnée aux psychologues formés et expérimentés pour prendre en charge les victimes. La barrière de la langue devra être surmontée. Dans un premier temps, une prise de contact ou un rapprochement auprès des dispositifs locaux et nationaux d’accueil des réfugiés serait souhaitable pour faciliter ces opérations. Des consultations en présentiel ou en distantiel, comme cela a été développé pendant la pandémie de Covid-19, sont envisageables. Des renforts en psychologues, y compris à distance, des pays accueillant le plus de réfugiés sont également souhaitables. La question de la détection, de l’évaluation et de la prise en charge des personnes psychologiquement traumatisées restées sur le territoire ukrainien est probablement encore plus massive. Que ce soit des non-combattants ou des combattants, une partie de la communauté psy internationale devrait se mobiliser, en complément des collègues locaux, pour leur apporter cette aide psychologique. Ces actions humanitaires seraient réalisables en fonction de l’évolution du conflit. Qu’il s’agisse de soutien psychologique aux réfugiés ou aux personnes sur le sol ukrainien, des modèles d’organisation et de coordination de ces actions doivent être pensés et mis en place de façon évolutive pour en optimiser l’efficacité. The war in Ukraine is a major poly-traumatic event, which leads to massive population displacements. The question of the evaluation and psychological care of psychotraumatised people is an urgent matter. As many countries hosting refugees are well endowed with a number of psychologists, some of these interested professionals should mobilise themselves and make themselves known to carry out these clinical acts. Priority should be given to trained and experienced psychologists to support victims. The language barrier will have to be overcome. Initially, it would be desirable to make contact or get closer to local and national refugee centres to facilitate these operations. Face-to-face or remote consultations, as developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, are possible. Reinforcements of available and dedicated psychologists, including remotely, from the countries hosting the most refugees are also desirable. The issue of detection, assessment and care of psychologically traumatised people who remained in the Ukrainian territory is probably even more massive. Whether non-combatants or combatants, part of the international psychological community should mobilise, in addition to local colleagues, to provide them with this psychological help. These humanitarian actions would be feasible depending on the evolution of the conflict. Whether it is psychological support for refugees or people still on the Ukrainian soil, models for organizing and coordinating these actions must be carefully thought out and implemented in an evolving way to optimise their effectiveness.

Understanding patterns of internal migration during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.

Existing empirical work has analysed the impacts of COVID-19 on mortality, fertility and international migration. Less is known about the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the patterns of internal migration. Anecdotal reports of mass migration from large cities to less populated areas have emerged, but lack of data has prevented empirically assessing this hypothesis. Drawing on geographically granular administrative population register data, we aim to analyse the extent of change in the patterns of internal migration across the urban hierarchy in Spain during 2020. Our results show a decline of 2.5% in the number of internal migration moves, particularly during the early stages of the pandemic, returning to pre-pandemic levels in late 2020. Results also reveal unusually large net migration losses in core cities and net migration gains in rural areas. Net migration losses in cities and gains in rural areas particularly accumulated following the elimination of the strict lockdown measures in June. Yet, these net losses and gains trended to pre-pandemic levels in late 2020, and movements between cities, and between cities and suburbs, continued to dominate the internal migration system. Thus, while the COVID-19 pandemic exerted notable changes in the geographic balance of internal migration flows, these changes appear to have been temporary and did not significantly alter the existing structures of the national migration system.

Psychotraumatology of the war in Ukraine: The question of the psychological care of victims who are refugees or who remain in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is a major poly-traumatic event, which leads to massive population displacements. The question of the evaluation and psychological care of psychotraumatised people is an urgent matter. As many countries hosting refugees are well endowed with a good number of psychologists, some of these interested professionals should mobilise themselves and make themselves known to carry out these clinical acts. Priority should be given to trained and experienced psychologists to support victims. The language barrier will have to be overcome. Initially, it would be desirable to make contact or get closer to local and national refugee centres to facilitate these operations. Face-to-face or remote consultations, as developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, are possible. Reinforcements of the number of available and dedicated psychologists, including remotely, from the countries hosting the most refugees, are also desirable. The issue of detection, assessment and care of psychologically traumatised people who remained on the Ukrainian territory is probably even more massive. Whether non-combatants or combatants, part of the international psychological community should mobilise, in addition to local colleagues, to provide them with this psychological help. These humanitarian actions would be feasible depending on the evolution of the conflict. Whether it is psychological support for refugees or people still on the Ukrainian soil, models for organising and coordinating these actions must be carefully considered and implemented in an evolving way to optimise their effectiveness. Résumé La guerre en Ukraine est un événement polytraumatique majeur qui donne lieu à des déplacements massifs de population. La question de l’évaluation et de la prise en charge psychologique des personnes psychotraumatisées se pose de façon urgente. De multiples pays d’accueil de réfugiés étant bien dotés en nombre de psychologues, une partie de ces professionnels intéressés devrait se mobiliser et se faire connaître pour réaliser ces actes cliniques. La priorité devrait être donnée aux psychologues formés et expérimentés pour prendre en charge les victimes. La barrière de la langue devra être surmontée. Dans un premier temps, une prise de contact ou un rapprochement auprès des dispositifs locaux et nationaux d’accueil des réfugiés serait souhaitable pour faciliter ces opérations. Des consultations en présentiel ou en distantiel, comme cela a été développé pendant la pandémie de Covid-19, sont envisageables. Des renforts en psychologues, y compris à distance, des pays accueillant le plus de réfugiés sont également souhaitables. La question de la détection, de l’évaluation et de la prise en charge des personnes psychologiquement traumatisées restées sur le territoire ukrainien est probablement encore plus massive. Que ce soit des non-combattants ou des combattants, une partie de la communauté psy internationale devrait se mobiliser, en complément des collègues locaux, pour leur apporter cette aide psychologique. Ces actions humanitaires seraient réalisables en fonction de l’évolution du conflit. Qu’il s’agisse de soutien psychologique aux réfugiés ou aux personnes sur le sol ukrainien des modèles d’organisation et de coordination de ces actions doivent être pensés et mis en place de façon évolutive pour en optimiser l’efficacité.

Urban exodus and the dynamics of COVID-19 pandemics.

In mid-march in France following the announcement of containment of persons to their home, a number of city dwellers left to the country side. Countrymen were not enthusiastic in fear of contamination and this exodus was first strongly criticised in the media. Numerical simulations presented in the present paper show that the increase in infected persons in the countryside is over compensated by the decrease of the infection in cities. At the Nation level the effects of this urban exodus were then beneficial.