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From Victims to Workers: The Politics of Deservingness in Europe’s Support for Displaced Ukrainians
Europe’s ‘extraordinary solidarity’ with displaced Ukrainians in 2022 – rooted in images of vulnerability and cultural proximity – is increasingly being replaced by a politics of conditionality. Across Czechia, Germany, and Poland, benefits are shrinking, and public debates frame refugees less as victims of war than as workers expected to prove their worth through employment. This shift reveals how European governments, spurred on by far-right politicians who question displaced people’s right to stay, are reshaping solidarity around labour market deservingness, with troubling implications for the future of refugee protection in Europe.
10.09.2025
