Interlacing Migrations: Solidarity or Fear Towards Refugees Among Hungarians in Germany

Refugees fleeing from conflict zones in the Middle East heading for specific European countries arrive in spaces already entangled with multiple forms and waves of migrations. In our current research we aim to understand how specific forms of present-day inter-European movements relate to the arrival of Middle-Eastern refugees, more specifically we aim to inquire on the effect of own (migration) histories of inter-European migrants on attitudes and perceptions concerning Middle-Eastern refugees. To what extent are personal migration experience and struggles for social status, its successes and failures related to reactions to the arrival of refugee groups? In different EU countries two major forms of public discourses are formulated around the issue: securitization interprets migration as a phenomenon destabilizing the social cohesion and integration of a society, criminalizing Middle Eastern migrants; while the discourse of humanitarianism and human rights frames refugees as victims, as legitimate claimants of material and symbolic support on the part of receiving societies. How is responsiveness to these two major discourses related to the social status of migrants and their personal migration experience? The two discourses are prevalent in the public spaces and public policies of different nation states at different levels: while securitization is ubiquitous, humanitarianism may be dominant in public spaces of some countries, while almost absent in others’. How is the dual positionality of migrants, being exposed to publics of multiple societies reflected in their attitudes towards refugees, and towards securitization and humanitarianism? These questions will be raised in the context of present day migration from Hungary to Germany, based on a mixed methodology. A quantitative survey of 642 respondents, living or working in Germany, and 14 qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted among Hungarians living in Germany volunteering or working with refugees forms the empirical basis of the analysis.