Welcome to the European Union! The case of Ukrainian Refugees
February 15, 2023
Unravel the Conspiracy behind Conspiracies
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a ground and aerial invasion of Ukraine that has killed more than 20,000 people, as of the beginning of December 2022. Almost immediately, Ukrainians started fleeing the country en masse with 875,000 leaving in the first two weeks alone. While they first crossed the border into neighbouring countries, such as Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary, many moved onwards to countries like Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. As of November 2022, there were 7.6 million Ukrainian refugees registered across Europe, and more than 100,000 in the United Kingdom.
Given the initial outpouring of political and practical support for Ukrainian refugees coupled with a history of xenophobia and anti-refugee sentiments in several of these countries, we wanted to understand what negative stereotypes and potentially xenophobic encounters and experiences a Ukrainian refugee might face in Western European countries. We were also interested in the possibility of Russian propaganda being used to sway the conversations online. Our researchers identified seven key themes in the narratives surrounding Ukrainian refugees.
General Anti Refugee Sentiment: We categorise the largest number of posts as falling under the umbrella “General Anti-Refugee Sentiment,” which can be anything from doubting whether a Ukrainian really has to flee Ukraine to calling them freeloaders.
Ukrainians as Nazis: A number of posts in German, along with English and Dutch referred to Ukrainian refugees as “Nazis,” which echoes Russian propaganda that the Azov battalion is Nazis, thus justifying the ground invasion and aerial attacks. While it is possible that Russian propagandists are behind these posts, it is equally possible that these are authored by Europeans who share their sentiments.
Ukrainians as Profiteers: Across languages, several people pointed out that hosting Ukrainian refugees and providing social welfare benefits would be too expensive, and is unfair to citizens.
Ukrainians as Prostitutes: Several posts in English and, to a lesser extent, Dutch, pointed out that Ukrainian women frequently work as sex workers, indicating a sexist and misogynistic component to the toxicity which could impact female refugees’ experiences.
Ukrainians as Cowards: A few posts in English, and, to a lesser extent, German, explicitly stated that Ukrainians should have stayed in their country to fight and are cowards for fleeing the war.
Ukrainians as “Good Refugees”: A number of posts across languages either emphasised that Ukrainians were “good refugees,” who were more worthy of refuge than migrants and refugees of other nationalities, or criticised Ukrainian refugees for receiving unfair benefits, merely because they are white, while other refugees encounter racism as well as xenophobia. A number of these posts also brought up the Great Replacement theory, pointing out that Ukrainian refugees could be beneficial to reverse the Great Replacement.
Violent Ukrainians: A number of posts pointed towards Ukrainians being violent, and bringing the violence of the war with them when they come to Europe.
Are all immigrants equal?
Ukrainian refugees are seeking refuge in Western Europe at a time when mass displacement and immigration from the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa has shaped politics and attitudes, leading to everything from political decisions such as Brexit and the proliferation of racist, xenophobic and antisemitic ideas such as the Great Replacement Theory.
Even though Ukrainian refugees have been treated differently than Syrian refugees, or refugees from other nationalities, they are still facing a unique set of toxic narratives with real life consequences; for example, the stereotype that Ukrainian women are prostitutes has resulted in single, female refugees being particularly vulnerable, as some have been sexualised or taken advantage of by potential sponsors.
While a few of the narratives that Ukrainian refugees are up against are reminiscent of Russian propaganda (such as the idea that Ukrainians are Nazis), we were not able to ascertain whether these narratives were a product of Russian users or European users, whose views reflect those of the Russian government.
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