Date of Award
Spring 5-18-2024
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Advisor(s)
Sarah Lockhart
Second Advisor
Kate Wilson, Ph.D.
Abstract
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, millions of Ukrainians fled the country as refugees. The majority of which settled in the neighboring country of Poland, where they were greeted with open arms both by the government and the public. However, Poland’s kindness towards Ukrainian refugees was an outlier: during the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015, the Polish government and citizens adamantly opposed accepting refugees from Syria or other Middle Eastern countries. Their initial refusal meant they were woefully unprepared for the two million Ukrainians who chose to remain in the country both due to a lack of updated refugee law as well as institutional assistance programs. This paper juxtaposes the government and public response during the Syrian and Ukrainian refugee crises, as well as analyzes how Poland’s refusal to assist refugees in 2015 impacted their ability to do so in 2022.
Recommended Citation
Friedman, Emily M., "Refugees or Migrants: Polish Reception to Ukrainian and Syrian Refugee Crises (2015/2022)" (2024). Senior Theses. 149.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/international_senior/149
