Crises, violence and vulnerabilities for refugees in Europe

Since 2015 millions of refugees have arrived in Europe, fleeing wars, conflicts and violence in their home countries. Thousands more are still trying to reach Europe every day, and thousands more are dying at land and sea borders trying to get there. This increase in the number of refugees arriving in Europe in recent years has led some to speak of a refugee ‘crisis’ or a migration ‘crisis’. But we could rather describe a ‘crisis’ of EU policies in that policy-making bodies at both regional and national levels have failed to find a solution to offer adequate protection to those seeking refuge. The notion of ‘crisis’ has been used by political leaders to justify and legitimise even greater border controls, and in some cases complete border closures on refugee routes. Justified by the need to ensure the ‘security’ of European countries and populations, these controls have extremely negative impacts on the safety of people trying to find protection in Europe, with particularly significant consequences for refugee women, and an impact on their experiences of violence. Using data from field research with refugee populations in Europe, this paper will analyse the impacts of the discourses and management of this ‘crisis’ on women seeking protection. We will also interrogate the ‘humanitarian’ management of this ‘crisis’ which reinforces gendered dichotomies between male ‘threats’ to security and female ‘vulnerability/victims’. Finally, we will examine the impacts of the intersection of the two ‘crises’ - the refugee crisis and the Covid-19 crisis - on the situations of exiled populations in Europe.