Politics of exclusion : A WPR Analysis of Denmark’s Immigration and Integration Policies concerning refugees and asylum seekers

Abstract: Since 2015, especially after the syrian conflict, there has been an increasing number of refugees arriving in Denmark. following the refugee crisis, Danish governments series of policy reforms in oredr to minimise the effects of refugee crisis on Denmark. The research is motivated by the importance of the contemporary migration in this ever more globalising world. The study is aiming to answer how Danish immigration and integration policies problematise and politicise refugees and assylum-seekers as well as the solusions they present to solve the problem. In order to answer the question, the study uses the WPR approach by Bacchi to analyse the Denmark's Immigration and integration policies, through conducting a political discourse analysis on the selected policies from 2015 to 2019. The findings of the study indicates that refugees are prolematised, politicised and presented as both 'short-term' and 'long-term' threats to the Danish society, especially Denmarks 'ethnic and religous cohesion' as well as a threat to Denmark's national security. They are further represented as an undesirable from of immigrants who are seeking assylum in Denmark due to Denmark economic attractivness.