How the EU treats Ukrainian refugees in comparison to others, and what are the factors that led to the differences in treatment

Duez, DenisHorina, OlhaOlhaHorina2025-07-012025-07-012025-06-0320252025-06-03https://hdl.handle.net/2078.2/43354This thesis researches the European Union’s (EU) differential treatment of refugee populations by comparing its response to the 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis with prior responses to displaced persons from Syria, Afghanistan, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Employing a qualitative synthesis approach, the study systematically analyses fifteen peer-reviewed academic articles and key EU policy documents to explore legal instruments, institutional mechanisms, socio-economic integration outcomes, and media narratives that shaped these responses. Rather than collecting primary data, the research synthesizes secondary empirical material to provide a comparative, multi-dimensional understanding of EU asylum practices. The findings reveal that the swift and unified activation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for Ukrainian refugees was enabled by political consensus, geopolitical proximity, and symbolic alignment with European identity. In contrast, non-European refugee groups experienced a totally different process under the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), marked by protracted procedures, securitization, and unequal access to integration services. Media portrayals and public discourse played a critical role in legitimizing this differentiated treatment, often reinforcing racial and cultural hierarchies. It would be argued that EU asylum governance reflects a pattern of selective/arbitrary solidarity, wherein legal commitments to non-discrimination and equal protection are undermined by racialized and politicized decision-making. Policy recommendations call for stronger legal harmonization, equitable integration frameworks, and the depoliticization of refugee reception to uphold the universality of humanitarian protection. This thesis contributes to debates on migration governance by demonstrating how structural, legal, and ideological dynamics converge to produce unequal outcomes for displaced populations within the EU.Temporary Protection DirectiveCommon European Asylum SystemUkrainian refugeesEU migration policyrefugee integrationselective solidaritymedia narrativesasylum governanceracialized protectionrefugee lawHow the EU treats Ukrainian refugees in comparison to others, and what are the factors that led to the differences in treatmenttext::thesis::master thesis