Securitization of Migration and Crisis Management in Poland

Objectives The purpose of article is to present the issue of migration crisis management in the context of securitization theory. It is of key importance to show the way in which the phenomenon of migration and crises are presented to the Polish public by political actors, as well as the actions taken to solve them. The analysis covers two important migration crises in the recent years, namely the EU refugee crisis that was particularly intensified in 2015 and the crisis on the Belarusian border in 2021-2022. Methods The approach used in the research process is descriptive and exploratory in its nature. The main methods used in this study include desk research and a systematic review of literature and of websites concerning securitization theory and migration crises selected as case studies. Results What is also associated with the policies and practices in place at the time of migration crises, is a negative migration discourse, compounded by a narrative that describes migration and migrants as a threat, and images designed to create fear. Socially constructed “threats of migration” as a security issue in Poland concern migrants from the Middle East and Africa. Conclusions In a situation referred to as a crisis, during which migrants are defined as a threat requiring the use of emergency measures, policymakers have an option of managing migration to limit its scale. This model involves, among other things, closing borders, increasing the number of services, denying asylum requests or, finally, erecting a fence and a monitoring system in the cross-border area.