Out‐group penalties in refugee assistance: a survey experiment

The Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, or What Does It Mean to Need a “Brute” in the Twenty-First Century?

Understanding refugees' destination choices is key to designing appropriate policies, but little is known about this beyond correlational patterns and the effects of isolated policy changes. To derive causal evidence on how destination country characteristics affect refugees' destination choices, we conducted a forced-choice conjoint experiment among 3,348 Ukrainian refugees across Europe. In the survey experiment, refugees repeatedly chose between two hypothetical countries that varied on eight relevant attributes. Ukrainian refugees are uniquely suited to study the relative importance of different host country attributes as they have the right to choose in which member state of the European Union they apply for temporary protection. We find that job opportunities are a much stronger driver of destination choice than social assistance. A one SD increase in average wages makes it 16.4 percentage points more likely that the country is chosen in the survey experiment, while a corresponding increase in social assistance increases the probability of the country being chosen by only 4.5 percentage points. The ease of finding a job matching one's qualifications is valued even more than having friends or family and knowing the language of the country. We also find strong sorting in that respondents who value knowing the language and job opportunities in our survey experiments are also more likely to have settled in countries where this is the case. Conjoint experiments can be used to assess refugees' anticipated migratory responses to proposed policy changes.

The escalation of the Russian–Ukrainian conflict has forced many Ukrainian people to leave their country seeking safety and support. To date, more than 6 million of refugees have crossed the borders into neighbouring countries. Nearly all European countries were involved in refugee‐hosting, including Italy. In a cross‐sectional study with Italian respondents (N = 338), we examined direct contact with and empathy towards Ukrainians and identification with Europe as predictors of helping behaviours towards Ukrainian refugees. Specifically, based on intergroup contact theory, we expected contact to be associated with helping behaviours via increased empathy. The European identity, rooted in values such as tolerance and egalitarianism can be seen as a common ingroup that includes people from various European countries, including Ukrainians. Consequently, it should be associated with helping behaviours, and could boost the effects of contact and empathy. As hypothesised, identification with Europe boosted the direct effect of contact on helping behaviours. Instead, the indirect effect of contact on helping behaviours via empathy was significant only among respondents with low Identification with Europe. This research highlights processes related to intergroup helping behaviours and, more specifically, participation in humanitarian initiatives favouring Ukrainian refugees. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The article examines the main principles of the refugee migration policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, highlights the main migration laws and documents regulating migration flows. Aid to refugees from the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia in 2015 and Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Germany due to the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation are compared. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering another war in Europe and leading to a significant humanitarian crisis with over three million Ukrainian refugees. This part of the article explores whether refugees from Ukraine are perceived differently compared to those from other countries. Notably, while the 2015 refugee influx into Germany primarily consisted of young men from the Middle East, the current situation involves mostly women, children, and elderly people from Ukraine. This shift has led to different public and political responses in Germany. Furthermore, the article discusses why Ukrainian refugees have received better conditions compared to the 2015 scenario, highlighting factors like political dimensions, Ukraine's orientation towards Western democracy, geographical proximity invoking a sense of shared fate, and the cultural closeness reflected in the European character of Ukrainian cities. The article also studies the legal mechanisms affecting refugee reception, particularly the “Mass Influx Directive” enacted in 2001 following the displacement during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. This directive offers a bureaucracy-free method of accepting refugees outside the usual asylum procedure but requires a decision from the EU for its activation. Notably, in 2015, this directive was not applied to Syrian refugees. Instead, Germany unilaterally decided to accept large numbers of Syrian refugees on September 4, 2015. Contrastingly, in 2022, the EU nations collectively decided to activate this directive for Ukrainian refugees soon after the Russian invasion. This directive, triggered in situations like war or persecution impacting large population groups, allows for a bypass of the standard asylum procedure, granting Ukrainian refugees direct protection within the EU without the need for thorough application scrutiny and additional burdens. The conclusion of the article synthesizes the observations on the complexities and dynamics of migration processes in the contemporary world, with a focus on Germany's role as a key player in shaping European migration policy. The analysis of Germany’s approaches to refugees from various regions, especially in the context of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine in 2022, highlights differences in attitudes and methods of assistance. It was established that key German migration laws and documents reflect the dynamic and adaptive nature of state policy, responding to global challenges and changes. The assistance provided to Ukrainian refugees underscores Germany's particular approach towards this group, considering their situation induced by military actions. The primary conclusion is that recipient countries' migration policies are not static; they adapt to external challenges and internal needs. The situation with Ukrainian refugees has been another significant test for the German migration system, where humanitarian commitments intersect with political realities. Germany's efforts in this domain should be considered in formulating international policy aimed at supporting stability and cooperation in Europe. Key words: migration policy, Germany, refugees from the Middle East, Ukrainian refugees, migration space, migrants, cooperation, visa regime, illegal migration.

Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. Yet, Canada has only received a small number of Ukrainian refugees compared to other countries, despite citizens’ overwhelming willingness to receive them. Canadian immigration policies are the issue and need to be revised to allow faster and easier access for Ukrainians. While the federal government has launched a program to fast-track Ukrainian refugees, Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), statistics show that it isn’t enough. Under CUAET, visas and temporary residency permits are expedited for Ukrainians and their families. While the number of applications is increasing, the program’s number of approvals is slowing. That Canadian visa policies are the cause of the comparatively low number of Ukrainian arrivals is supported by empirical evidence from Ireland and the United Kingdom. Both countries are similar in ways that attract displaced Ukrainians, but only Ireland lifted its visa requirements in response to the war; the U.K. has maintained a Canada-like visa process. As a result, approximately 13 times the number of Ukrainian refugees per capita arrived in Ireland than in the U.K. during the first two months of the invasion. The visa requirements in Canada have, in a similar way, stymied the arrival of Ukrainian refugees. There are several options that could be implemented to increase the flow of Ukrainian refugees to Canada. The first, visa-free travel, is already in place in Ireland and has proven very successful, allowing an additional estimated 23,000 arrivals above what might have been expected under pre-war Irish visa policies. The second is a visa-on-arrival system. Security checks are done at the port-of-entry and a visa can be issued onsite. The third option is a hybrid of CUAET and options 1 or 2 — allow visa-free travel or a visa-on-arrival program for Ukrainians with proper documentation while those without documentation go through CUAET. This will speed up the CUAET process since documented refugees will not be part of the list anymore. National security concerns are one of the reasons for Canada’s more strict immigration policies. However, research shows that foreign agents are less likely to infiltrate strong, stable countries through refugee streams. As well, refugees tend to be targets of espionage themselves and can be a valuable source of intelligence. Canada could invest more in counterespionage to help identify high-risk entries and mitigate the small risk of infiltration. Approximately 80 per cent of Canadians are willing for this country to receive Ukrainian refugees. The chance of refugee-related espionage is minuscule while the impact of Canada’s humanitarianism is huge. The federal government needs to consider this trade-off and amend immigration policies for Ukrainian war refugees.

Recent studies have reported that the ideological polarization of party elites induces citizens’ affective polarization toward parties in the United States, while others have found that American citizens’ affective polarization strengthens their biased attitudes toward opposing-party supporters. This study tests the implication of the literature that affective polarization mediates between the ideological polarization of party elites and biased attitudes against fellow citizens using survey experiments in the United States and South Korea. We find three common results between the two countries. First, the manipulation of the ideological distance between the two parties does not influence respondents’ relative affect between them. Second, however, there appears to be a positive correlation between the relative affect and biased attitudes toward fellow citizens. Finally, mediation analysis further reveals that the manipulation does not affect the biased attitudes through the relative affect. We conclude by briefly discussing the key findings.

Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, destruction of cities and towns, homes and infrastructure. The constant threat is a consequence of the large flow of refugees who are forced to leave the country in search of security and asylum. European Union countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada have accepted those fleeing the war and provided temporary protection. The relevance of the study consists in the identification of ways for assistance and benefits conferred, which are aimed at adapting and supporting Ukrainian refugees. The purpose of this paper is to study the features of adaptation of Ukrainian refugees in the EU, Great Britain, USA, and Canada, the socio-psychological state of refugees during the adaptation period, to compare the concepts of “refugee” and “person in need of temporary protection”, the characteristics of the social assistance package for Ukrainian refugees. The methods used to investigate the topic are: comparative, legal recognition, logical and legal method, hermeneutical method, analysis, etc. The results of this study are a comparison of the main concepts, including: “refugee”, “person in need of temporary protection”, characteristics of Ukrainian and international laws and regulations on refugee protection issues, clarification of the features of adaptation of Ukrainian refugees in the EU countries, Great Britain, USA, and Canada, psychological aspects of refugee adaptation, comparative analysis of social assistance and benefits for refugees between EU countries, Great Britain, USA, and Canada, processing statistics to compare the number of refugees between countries that provide asylum and protection. The provisions presented in this paper reveal the current problems of adaptation of Ukrainian refugees in the EU, Great Britain, USA, and Canada and may be useful for further study

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to address a gap in the existing literature on humanitarian service use by Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia. In particular, it examines the patterns of service use by different demographic groups and considers the implications of these patterns for the allocation of resources. Aims(s) – The principal aim is to analyse the variations in service utilisation across different demographic groups and service categories. Secondary objectives include the identification of trends in service delivery over time and the drawing of implications for future humanitarian response strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a quantitative, cross-sectional methodology, analysing data from a charitable organisation situated in the Slovakian midlands. The service delivery records of 1,033 cases, encompassing seven categories, were examined over the period from November 2023 to March 2024. The data analysis comprised descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and time series analysis. Findings – The results revealed a significant gender disparity, with women utilizing 73.3% of the services in question. With regard to age, the 45-60 age group constituted the largest proportion of service users (39.5%). The most frequently provided services were food assistance and hygiene support. The time series analysis revealed a peak in November 2023, followed by a gradual decline. Limitations of the study - The study is limited by its focus on a single organisation and region, which restricts the potential for generalisation. A five-month study period may not be sufficiently long to capture long-term trends or seasonal changes. Originality/value - The study provides evidence-based insights for more targeted and effective resource allocation in refugee assistance and contributes to the growing body of literature on demographic analysis in humanitarian contexts.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The resulting conflict has led to approximately 14,059 civilian casualties of which roughly 5,767 people have died and a further 8,292 got injured as of October 2022. Seven million people are internally displaced. Europe, as of October 2022, was faced with the largest and fastest refugee movement since the end of the Second World War. Five million Ukrainians have been forced to seek asylum in the neighboring states, the majority of whom have fled to Poland. In this context, this study focuses on media framing of Ukraine and African refugees destined for Europe in international media: Al Jazeera English, ABC News, CBS News, France 24, TRT World, BBC News, Sky News, CNN, and DW. The media were selected because of their wide coverage, reach, as well as time dedicated to reporting on the issues of immigrants and refugees. The authors took a constructivist approach in which Framing and Agenda Setting theories provided a framework for identifying and explicating frames. Two dominant frames emerged in the analysis of 23 video clips that covered Ukrainian and African refugees: the human interest and the security frames. The human-interest frame is commonly used in news and it essentially serves the purpose of portraying the emotional angle to the presentation of an issue. The Ukrainian refugee crisis contrasted with the African refugee crisis through the human-interest frame, the former was portrayed as victims of the barbaric acts by Russia led by a merciless tyrant with imperialist and expansionist objectives. The second frame – the Security Frame – applied mostly to African refugees fleeing to Europe. The selected media outlets covered African refugees fleeing to Europe especially through Spain, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Italy through the security lens compared to the Ukrainian refugees.

Hispanic immigrants are the largest immigrant group in the United States. However, conflicting immigration attitudes have stalemated efforts to develop more systematic and effective policies to better incorporate them. Guided by age stratification theory and framing theory, the present study examined the roles of age and framing in attitudes toward Hispanic immigrants and immigration policies. We used an experimental design to embed survey questions in the RAND American Life Panel ( n = 694). Before answering the questions, respondents were randomly assigned to one of three brief priming statements that described Hispanic immigrants using a conservative, progressive, or no framing. We performed bivariate analyses and multivariate regressions to examine how age and framing are associated with attitudes toward Hispanic immigrants and immigration policies, and conducted post hoc comparisons to determine the interactions between age and framing. We found that at the bivariate level, compared to younger people, middle-aged and older people had less supportive attitudes toward Hispanic immigrants and immigration policies; there was no difference in immigration attitudes by framing. After controlling for covariates, we found that compared to younger people, middle-aged were less supportive of immigrants, and both middle-aged and older adults were less supportive of immigration policies; conservative framing was associated with a more negative attitude toward immigration policies. Framing moderated differences in immigration attitudes by age, with different age groups tending to be responsive to different framing statements. The study highlights age as a significant factor in affecting immigration attitudes, and demonstrates the potential of using framing to influence immigration attitudes for different age groups.

Drawing on intergroup threat theory, this article argues that immigrant integration policies can improve public attitudes toward immigrants and, particularly, toward refugees and asylum-seekers. Examining evidence from an original survey experiment conducted in the United Kingdom, I find that support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are made aware that prospective asylum-seekers will be required to partake in language and civic-education courses. This effect is particularly strong among respondents who were more likely to perceive asylum-seekers as a symbolic threat (i.e., conservatives). Similarly, support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are told that future asylum-seekers will only have limited access to welfare. This effect is stronger among respondents who were more likely to view asylum-seekers as a material threat (i.e., conservatives and individuals with low socioeconomic status). These findings have important implications for the literatures on immigrant integration policies, intergroup threat theory, and public immigration attitudes generally. Importantly, the results reported in this article illustrate the significance of structural determinants for the study of immigration attitudes and demonstrate the importance of disaggregating immigrant integration policies when evaluating their effects.

EU enlargement and immigration policy in Poland and Slovakia

María Cristina García's book eloquently explains the various factors that shaped the experience of over two million Central American refugees in Mexico, the United States, and Canada from 1970 to the 1990s. Blaming the Cold War for driving people out of their countries, García explains how government officials and pro-immigrant advocates in religious institutions and nonprofit organizations shaped responses to the Central American refugee crisis. According to García, government officials in North America conveniently politicized their initial responses to strengthen their own foreign or domestic agendas but left few venues for legalizing the status of Central American immigrants. As a response, activists mobilized national and transnational networks to establish refugee assistance programs, inject public debates with moral consciousness, and advocate humane immigration policies. García accurately concludes that Mexico's effort to present itself as a middle power in hemispheric affairs and a negotiator in the Central American peace process, and the country's pride in accommodating refugees, all shaped Mexican immigration policies. Its depiction as a regional leader, an autonomous broker, and a social democratic nation that welcomed exiles was central to postrevolutionary Mexico after the 1920s. In line with this process, García's conclusion that the establishment of the Mexican Committee for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) in the 1980s offered inadequate aid for Central American refugees makes sense. COMAR functioned as a government institution that showed Mexico's regional leadership and autonomy from the United States, two critical factors for strengthening the power of the state in Mexico since the 1920s. In practice, according to García, the Mexican Government failed to protect Central American refugees because it made them “pawns of foreign policy decisions” (p. 10). However, García makes a distinction between state policy and the response from Mexican citizens, praising those who mobilized, offered refugee assistance, and pressured government officials to keep Mexico a safe haven for refugees. Criticism from refugee advocates forced the Mexican government to re-examine its policy as the country's “credibility and moral authority in the Central American peace initiatives, as well as in migratory issues related to its northern boundary, became dependent on its response to the migration across its southern border” (pp. 46–47).

German citizens and government officials are concerned that Germany's borders need to be strictly maintained while at the same time guaranteeing those seeking asylum the opportunity to enter Germany. This seeming contradiction between the two positions reflects the dual functions of borders (Stoddard 1991). On the one hand, borders serve as a barrier and on the other hand, borders can be permeable and provide access to the country's political and economic system. The often heated debate within Germany over immigration and asylum policy is indicative of policy-makers' attempts to balance these functions. At the same time, German officials are exploring the possibility of a united European immigration policy that would establish a future transnational border with the European community. This article will explore the development of immigration and asylum policy in Germany from 1960 to 1990. This time period was selected for two reasons: one, during this time Germany developed its 'guestworker' program that has had a continuing effect on the perceptions of immigrants by Germans and thus, on the development of immigration policy; and second, the unification of Germany in 1989 has produced new issues regarding immigration policy (McAdams 1993). In addition, the article will explore the possibilities for changes in future immigration and asylum policies.

Introduction, Gary P. Freeman, Randall Hansen, David L. Leal. Section I: Demography and Public Opinion. Chapter 1: Resistance to Immigrants and Asylum Seekers in the European Union: Cross-National Comparisons of Public Opinion, Marcel Coenders, Marcel Lubbers, Peer Sheepers. Chapter 2: Cross-National and Cross-Time Views of Immigration: Evidence from the Eurobarometer, Lauren McLaren. Chapter 3: The Paradox of Immigration Attitudes in Luxembourg: A Pan-European Comparison, Joel Fetzer. Chapter 4: The Structure of Self-Interest(s): Applying Comparative Theory to U.S. Immigration Attitudes, D. Stephen Voss, Jason E. Kehrberg, Adam M. Butz. Section II: Economics. Chapter 5: Individual Attitudes towards Immigration: Economic vs. Non-Economic Determinants, Giovanni Facchini, Anna Maria Mayda, Riccardo Puglisi. Chapter 6: Voter Attitudes towards High- and Low-Skilled Immigrants: Evidence from a Survey Experiment, Jens Hainmueller, Michael Hiscox. Section III: Framing and Institutional Effects. Chapter 7: Amnesty, Guest Workers, Fences! Oh My! Public Opinion about 'Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Deborah Schildkraut. Chapter 8: Threat and Immigration Attitudes in Liberal Democracies: The Role of Framing in Structuring Public Opinion, Gallya Lahav. Chapter 9: Media Effects and Immigration Policy in Australia, Bob Birrell. Chapter 10: Party Politics and Public Opinion on Immigration and Anti-Discrimination Policy, Terri Givens, Ernest McGowan. Chapter 11: Who's Afraid of Immigration? The Effects of Pro- and Anti-Immigrant Threatening Ads among Latinos, African Americans, and Whites, Bethany Albertson, Shana Kushner Gadarian. Section IV: Diversity and Opinion. Chapter 12: Native Born and Foreign Born Attitudes towards Receptivity and Conformity: The Dynamics of Opinion Change in Canada, Steven White, Neil Nevitte. Chapter 13L Immigration Reforms from the Perspective of the Target of the Reform: Immigrant Generation and Latino Policy Preferences on Immigration Reform, Louis DeSipio