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Wars in Ukraine and Afghanistan prompted countries around the world to open their doors to people fleeing the conflicts and seeking safety.

Both Canada and the UK quickly implemented programs allowing Ukrainians and Afghans to enter their countries, in the wake of Russia's invasion into Ukraine and the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan.

Canada welcomed almost 40,500 Afghans and 199,000 Ukrainians, while the UK took in roughly 21,500 Afghans and 262,000 Ukrainians – both countries taking less than four per cent of the total share of 1.6 million Afghan and 6.29 million Ukrainian refugees.

In the wake of those mass emigrations, questions arose over how the different groups were being received in their new host countries.

Researchers at Dalhousie University and the University of Oxford examined the issue in a new comparative study that looked at similarities and differences in the reception of Ukrainian and Afghan refugees, as well as their classification as either deserving or undeserving of state protection.

A Tale of Two Contexts: The Ukrainian and Afghan Refugee Crises in Canada and the UK reviews scholarly literature from May 2021 to May 2023 in a bid to understand public perceptions and what was being written about the welcoming of the refugees in the two nations.

The researchers, including Raluca Bejan, an assistant professor in Dal's School of Social Work, found that domestic political interests influenced what rights and resources refugees were afforded, along with their ability to remain in the host country. They suggest that patchwork approaches meant that the different emigrants appeared to have different benefits and disadvantages, making the overall welcoming of both groups inadequate in both countries.

For example, both Ukrainians and Afghans who can show a prior connection to the host country are welcomed permanently in Canada and the UK. There are, however, fewer opportunities for Afghans to qualify for entry and fewer opportunities for Ukrainians to immediately secure permanent residency.

Dr. Bejan is available to discuss the research, funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and how a variety of factors like race, gender, class as well as national interests play a role in the perceived "deservingness" of a refugee group.

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Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University 
Cell: 1-902-220-0491 
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca