The Mediatisation and the Politicisation of the ‘Refugee Crisis’ in Europe

[Introduction]: "Much has been said in 2015-16 and beyond about the so-called ‘Refugee Crisis’ i.e. yet another pan-European ‘crisis’ caused by the sudden massive asylum seeker flow from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq. Across Europe and especially in the key EU countries, there have been divergent interpretations of this process. Therein, various mobilising and politicising concepts – incl. humanitarianism, security, diversity, protectionism, etc. – were deployed in public discourses to legitimise the ever new restrictions of migration and asylum policies as well as diverse expressions of solidarity or lack thereof."