Ukrainian Refugees and Welfare Deservingness: A Comparative Study of UK Government Discussions Around the 2022 Ukraine Conflict and 2015 Migrant Crisis.

Authors

Joshua Garland, Juhyun Lee

Published in

The British journal of sociology. Apr 27, 2025. Epub Apr 27, 2025.

Abstract

Recent years witnessed mass migration towards Europe, from Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the 2015 Migrant Crisis linked to war in Syria. This article explores UK government discussion around these two significant crises, focussing on the challenges they present and the portrayal of refugees. It asks how far ministers' language differentiated between Ukrainians and Syrians regarding welfare deservingness. Thematically analysing over 100 official speeches, statements and press releases, the extent of racialisation and welfare chauvinism in ministers' discourse on refugees is revealed. Clear racialisation was found between the two refugee groups, but welfare chauvinism persisted for Ukrainians despite more favourable language, reflecting continued conditionality within UK government discussions of migration phenomena that may hold long-term implications for Ukrainian refugees in the UK.

PMID:
40287946
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 28 Apr 2025.

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