Contesting migration crises in Central Eastern Europe

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• MPC: Migration Policy Centre

Join our seminar where the presenter will discuss his monograph with it's core argument: the construction of states' preferences around refugee protection burden-sharing, focusing on Poland and employing an identity-utility model.

The study aims to establish a correlation between the security/humanitarian dichotomy and the cost-benefit calculus rationale. Empirical validation is provided through observations of the Polish government's approaches to different migrant groups: Middle Eastern and Central Eastern European. The analysis, using a content analysis method, frames the costs and benefits of providing humanitarian protection to refugees or perceiving them a potential national threat. Results indicate that the Polish government extends refugee protection to Eastern European migrants in danger, considering them as potential labour force with higher benefits of fulfilling humanitarian law compared to the cost of a hypothetical security threat. In contrast, Middle Eastern migrants are largely perceived as a security threat, with minimal consideration for international protection, highlighting a securitized narrative.