In the German mass media, a positive image of Ukrainian refugees is mainly cultivated. The typical protagonist of the publications is a middle-aged woman who fled the war with her children.
According to the results of the joint research by the University of Bielefeld and the University of Melbourne, the “classic” image of a Ukrainian refugee is an educated, hardworking, grateful woman who is close and understandable to Germans, who is a welcome migrant to Germany.
In particular, Ukrainians are positioned in the mass media as people who are grateful to Germany for all the steps aimed at helping refugees. Usually, these are people who are successful in learning German and getting a job. They are ready to help support the ideals and values of cooperation, diplomacy and education.
Such an image really has a positive effect on the general attitude towards Ukrainians. And our fellow citizens adapt better and faster in Germany than, say, migrants from Syria. However, the ideal figure of the refugee created in the mass media has negative consequences. After all, those Ukrainians who do not correspond to the mass media image (they are men / pensioners, people who have not learned the language well, have not yet found a job, etc.) may be condemned or harassed.
“While such media coverage can contribute to the humanization of refugees, it can also lead to inflated expectations. Focusing on migrants’ potential, offering economic or cultural advantages, can obscure the challenges they face as asylum seekers fleeing “Such images ultimately harm all displaced persons. By supporting one group, they cast a shadow over those who do not meet the requirements and raise expectations about the contribution of refugees to public life in Germany,” the researchers say.
As a reminder, more than 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Germany since 2022. Currently, there are about 1.1 million asylum seekers in the country. So far, only 21% of able-bodied migrants have found work in Germany. The main reasons that Ukrainian refugees are in no hurry to get a job are the need to care for young children and the language barrier. Sometimes Ukrainians have to wait more than 6 months in line for language courses offered by the state, and without knowledge of German it is extremely difficult to find a job in Germany.
