Marginalized and Securitized: Orientalist Narratives and the Erasure of Syrian Refugees’ Agency in The Daily Mail and Der Spiegel

Cahaya Arga Putri Diponegoro, Dr. Atin Prabandari

2026 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

This thesis investigates how Orientalist narratives in Western humanitarian media contributed to the securitization of Syrian refugees during the 2015 European refugee crisis. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study examines news coverage from The Daily Mail (UK) and Der Spiegel (Germany), alongside counter-narratives from SyriaUntold and The New Humanitarian. The depiction of Syrian refugees during the 2015 refugee crisis in Western European news media such as The Daily Mail and Der Spiegel is not neutral but is shaped by Orientalist narratives, which actively contributed to the Syrian refugees being portrayed as “others” and as threats and potential security risks. This representation legitimizes exclusionary migration policies and erases refugee agency by casting them as helpless victims or threatening figures. Such narratives strip refugees of their voice and subjectivity and help justify restrictive, control-oriented responses to migration.  Using a post-colonial lens, this study exposes how colonial power dynamics continue to structure whose voices are heard, how refugee agency is framed and how government response of displacements are justified. The findings reveal that The Daily Mail frequently frames refugees as cultural, economic, and security threats, which legitimizes policies such as tightened borders and deportation. Der Spiegel presents a more ambivalent stance, combining humanitarian sympathy with cautionary discourse, yet still portraying refugees as passive subjects, reinforcing paternalistic governance. Refugee-led platforms challenge these dominant representations by restoring voice and agency to refugees. The research argues that together, Orientalism and securitization operate to shape public discourses and policy, demonstrating that narrative power is central to contemporary International Relations and migration governance.

This thesis investigates how Orientalist narratives in Western humanitarian media contributed to the securitization of Syrian refugees during the 2015 European refugee crisis. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study examines news coverage from The Daily Mail (UK) and Der Spiegel (Germany), alongside counter-narratives from SyriaUntold and The New Humanitarian. The depiction of Syrian refugees during the 2015 refugee crisis in Western European news media such as The Daily Mail and Der Spiegel is not neutral but is shaped by Orientalist narratives, which actively contributed to the Syrian refugees being portrayed as “others” and as threats and potential security risks. This representation legitimizes exclusionary migration policies and erases refugee agency by casting them as helpless victims or threatening figures. Such narratives strip refugees of their voice and subjectivity and help justify restrictive, control-oriented responses to migration.  Using a post-colonial lens, this study exposes how colonial power dynamics continue to structure whose voices are heard, how refugee agency is framed and how government response of displacements are justified. The findings reveal that The Daily Mail frequently frames refugees as cultural, economic, and security threats, which legitimizes policies such as tightened borders and deportation. Der Spiegel presents a more ambivalent stance, combining humanitarian sympathy with cautionary discourse, yet still portraying refugees as passive subjects, reinforcing paternalistic governance. Refugee-led platforms challenge these dominant representations by restoring voice and agency to refugees. The research argues that together, Orientalism and securitization operate to shape public discourses and policy, demonstrating that narrative power is central to contemporary International Relations and migration governance.

Kata Kunci : Syrian Refugee Crisis; Orientalism; Securitization; CDA; Media Representation; Refugee Agency.