Rapid Evolution of Refugee Policy in Poland

Russian Invasion of Ukraine as a Focusing Event

Bibliographic Data

ID5897678
AuthorsKatarzyna Andrejuk (0000-0002-3397-152X, Polish Academy of Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume23
Issue4
Pages1-14
Publication date2023-09-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1556-2948 • E-ISSN: 1556-2956
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15562948.2023.2260337
OpenAlexW4386934885
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited26

The article uses the concept of a focusing event to shed light on the specificity of the political transformation process in response to an unexpected event. The analysis shows that as a result of the focusing event: Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a series of non-paradigmatic political changes took place in Polish refugee policy. These changes were rapid, but they were of an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary nature. This is due to a number of factors. The influx of refugees led to the creation of new legal regulations, but these did not deal with the rights of refugees in general, but only with the group of migrants from Ukraine, for whom a separate legal category was created. Refugees from Ukraine are primarily women, which strengthened the social legitimacy of the relief efforts and did not initiate a securitization discourse as with other refugee groups. Moreover, migrants from Ukraine had for years been the largest group of foreigners (mainly labor migrants) in the receiving country, which facilitated the formulation of adequate systemic solutions and improved grassroots refugee assistance activities. Political change has not challenged policy paradigms, such as the desire to admit migrants mainly from countries which are culturally similar. As the analysis of political discourses shows, supporting them is perceived as a proxy for military engagement in helping Ukraine. The study covers 100+ documents of discursive and normative policy (public statements by political stakeholders, legal acts).Keywords: War in UkraineUkrainian refugeesUkrainian migrationPolish refugee policyrapid evolutionary transformation Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Legal actsLaw of March 12th 2022 on assistance to citizens of Ukraine in connection with an armed conflict on the territory of that state [Ustawa z 12 III 2022 r. o pomocy obywatelom Ukrainy w związku z konfliktem zbrojnym na terytorium tego państwa, Dz. U. 2022 poz. 583]Ordinance of April 1st 2022 of the Council of Ministers on the Establishment of a Government Plenipotentiary for War Refugees from Ukraine [Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z 1 IV 2022 r. w sprawie ustanowienia Pełnomocnika Rządu do spraw uchodźców wojennych z Ukrainy, Dz.U. 2022 poz. 721]Ordinances of the Council of Ministers on the monetary allowance for providing accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens and the conditions for granting this allowance and extending its payment (two ordinances: Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z 15 III 2022 & Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z 4 V 2022 r. w sprawie maksymalnej wysokości świadczenia pieniężnego przysługującego z tytułu zapewnienia zakwaterowania i wyżywienia obywatelom Ukrainy oraz warunków przyznawania tego świadczenia i przedłużania jego wypłaty]Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC, and having the effect of introducing temporary protection

Development economics · Economics · Grassroots · Legitimacy · Normative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Securitization · Sociology · Economic Issues in Ukraine · European Politics and Security · Gender Studies · Law · Polish Law and Legal System