Authors

Discussion

This instrumentalization of refugees, asylum seekers, or other forcibly migration for destabilisation has been highlighted by a diversity of works (e.g., Greenhill, 2010; Tsourapas, 2019; Zolberg, 1988; Teitelbaum, 1984; Loescher, 1993; FitzGerald, 2019). Given the increasing prominence of refugee rentierism, there is a pressing need for developing a more in-depth understanding of how host states monetise cross-border migration flows. As a scrutiny of the East-Central European (ECE) region remains under-developed, this paper aims to fill this gap by examining the strategies of refugee rentierism adopted by Hungary and Poland in the context of the Ukrainian migration crisis. Building on the concept of refugee rent, the paper examines the ways their management of cross-border mobility is tied to national interests. Against the background of the region’s geographical position to extract refugee rents and their practices of hosting forcibly displaced populations, it constitutes an interesting case to study refugee rentierism. It seeks to contribute to an understanding of how refugee commodification operates by examining refugee rent-seeking policies and looking at how they influence the institutionalisation of refugee rent-seeking. The paper concludes by discussing how this analysis provides insight to refugee rentierism and argues for further research on refugee commodification in post-Soviet countries.