The 2015 refugee crisis vs the 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis: the Italian and Polish case

Abstract

Millions of people are currently fleeing Ukraine because of the war between Ukraine and Russia, representing the largest group of refugees in Europe since World War II. This humanitarian crisis is demonstrating that there is a new solidarity and a "paradigm shift" in refugee policy. On March 4, EU ministers agreed to activate the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time, thereby granting Ukrainian refugees an immediate protection status. The instant response from the EU member states, even the ones that had restrictive asylum policies, has been predominantly welcoming. What is clear is that the current crisis is being handled in a completely different way from the 2015 crisis, when about 1 million refugees and asylum-seekers arrived in Europe, from Syria's war zone. The response to that crisis from many EU member states, was to change policies in a restrictive direction by including stricter regulatory policies, but also restrictions in refugees’ access to social rights. Moreover, in 2015, member states of the EU decided to grant national quotas to refugees in Europe. This principle was developed with the aim of reducing migration pressure in countries such as Italy and Greece. In addition to this, EU enacted to block the migration route through the Western Balkans and let in Europe only those migrants and refugees, who will get there by legal routes originating in Turkey. So, the current events have raised the question whether they will lead to a paradigm shift in the EU asylum and migration policy. This dissertation aims at analyzing: the refugee migration policies adopted during the 2015 crisis and the current one, by emphasizing their marked differences (and the reasons why there have been such a different approach in the handling of these crises); the examination of the cases of Italy and Poland (crises management and obstacles) and the economic impact of the two crises on the refugees (in the case of the current crisis it would mainly be a forecast).