Sharing is caring: a micro-level analysis of domestic hospitality for displaced Ukrainians in Belgium and Switzerland

To lodge displaced people from Ukraine, national authorities in Europe turned to homestay accommodation to expand reception capacity. This paper adopts a micro-level approach to examine the experiences of local hosts in Belgium and Switzerland using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. Quantitative analysis of 754 survey responses revealed both positive experiences and key challenges, including difficulties with rule-making, intercultural communication, and psychological strain. Follow-up qualitative analysis, based on 58 in-depth interviews with local hosts, provided narrative insights into the most influential determinants and identified three hosting trajectories: harmonious cohabitation, gradual fatigue and exhaustion, and dysfunctional coexistence. Our findings show that homestay accommodation can foster meaningful connections and positive intergroup interactions when supported by a welcoming institutional framework, while also highlighting the temporal dynamics of hosting. Overall, the study underscores the importance of attending to ‘micro-moves’ in everyday humanitarian practices, and the need to re-politicize domestic hospitality within a multi-level governance framework.