In the last paper in the special section, Ivannna Kyliushyk, Dominika Winogrodzka and Emil Chról demonstrate that Ukrainian refugee women experience the vicious circle of liminality shaped by disrupted lives, fractured identities and belonging tensions.

In the editorial to the special section of the new CEEMR issue, Lucie Macková, Luděk Jirka, Mateusz Kamionka and Monika Nowicka are aiming to move beyond understanding Ukrainian refugees solely through the lens of forced displacement.

@DPszczolkowska, Emilia Szyszkowska, @SaraBojarczuk, @kam_matuszczyk and @MaciekDuszczyk argue that in the short term, the Polish healthcare system remained largely resilient, despite incorporating +1 million new patients from Ukraine.

Van Haaften, Sethi & Williams-Habibi find that European transnational carers’ experiences are mediated by cultural, gendered and occupational factors, as well as cross-border demands. Despite some employer flexibility, limited policy awareness requires carers to self-advocate.

Integration is often described as a shared responsibility. Kyliushyk, Winogrodzka, Trąbka, Blachnicka-Ciacek and Pietrusińska show how it increasingly becomes an individual responsibility borne by migrants themselves – a phenomenon they refer to as self-responsibilisation.

Kováčová, Mýtna Kureková & Studenás' study illustrates that the divide in the literature between sending and receiving countries is outdated – supposed ‘sending’ countries like Slovakia are receiving substantial numbers of posted workers and posting in different ways than before.

Dóra Gábriel, Krisztina Németh and Monika Váradi present how German migrantsover 50 explain their decisions to relocate to Hungaryand demonstrate the complex and changing nexus of economic, lifestyle-oriented, political and ideological motivations shaping their returns.

Erik Snel and Godfried Engbersen revisit the concept of liquid migration, showing that East-West migration can lead to three different patterns: permanent or long-term settlement, flexible lifestyles and careers ‘temporariness by choice’) or being ‘trapped in liquid migration’.