The "Worthy" Refugee: A comparative analysis of EU's policy towards Ukrainian and Syrian refugees

This thesis investigates why the European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainians in 2022 but not for Syrians in 2015. Existing migration governance literature such as securitization, social categorization, humanitarianism and actorness cannot alone explain why the EU implemented a protection mechanism for Ukrainians. I argue that the EU implemented the TPD for Ukrainians and not for Syrians because of how the refugee group was positioned within European identity and EU geopolitical interests. I theorize that humanitarian and securitization rhetoric was used by the EU to display its role as a global actor, aligning with values of solidarity and opposition to Russian aggression. 8 EU documents related to the Syrian Refugee Crisis and 10 documents related to the Ukraine-Russia war were used, accompanied by the MAXQDA software in order to analyze EU institution decision making concerning refugees and the activation or lack thereof of the TPD. From these findings, it was evident that the EU used securitization and humanitarian language to construct Ukrainian refugees in need of crucial assistance due to the common threat of Russia. This posed a geopolitical threat to European borders and security. On the other hand, the EU used securitization and humanitarian rhetoric for Syrian refugees to socially construct them as an “out group” fleeing an adversary that posed no direct geopolitical threat to the EU, hence contributing to the lack of TPD activation. This thesis hopes to contribute to our understanding of the EU as a global actor.