Two Borders, Two Logics: Future-Oriented Narratives on Migration from Belarus and Ukraine to Poland

The article is focused on the main narratives prevalent in the Polish public debate about migrants arriving at the Polish–Belarusian border and those arriving at the Polish–Ukrainian border. The author seeks to answer the question of why a negative narrative about the former and a positive one about the latter became so popular during the same period and whether, over time, Poles’ attitudes toward refugees from Ukraine may become similar to their attitudes toward migrants from across the Belarusian border. The study is based on focus-group interviews conducted among Poles living in Warsaw, Wrocław, Rzeszów and Łowicz. The collected data were analysed using the theoretical concept of ‘narratives’ adapted for migration studies.