2015 Syrian Refugee Responses Based on the Strength of Securitization Discourse

Abstract

This paper seeks to answer the question: Why were policy responses to the 2015 Syrian refugee "crisis" so different in Germany and the UK? I argue that these policies were driven by public opinion about migrants and immigration. Germany adopted a more liberal migration policy because of higher approval for refugees entering the country. I argue that this is the result of the degree to which securitization discourse explains different public attitudes towards Syrian refugees in 2015. Specifically, I argue that the greater the strength of securitization discourse, the easier it is to implement restrictive immigration policy. This paper demonstrates how the securitization of migration discourse influenced public opinion about migrants, and, in turn, affected migration policy in the two countries. The paper contributes to debates about the securitization of migration policies, highlighting both the influence of public opinion on policy formation and the influence of state policies and political leadership on public opinion.