Why is...Denmark unwelcoming to Refugees?

About this episode

Michelle Pace discusses Denmark's shift in refugee policy and its implications for European identity and humanitarian ideals.

Why has Denmark - once known for its humanitarian ideals - become so unwelcoming to refugees? In this episode, Michelle Pace, Associate Fellow at Chatham House, joins us to discuss her new book "Un-Welcome in Denmark: The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration" (Manchester University Press, 2025), co-authored with Sarah El‑Abd. A leading voice on Europe-Middle East relations, migration, and democratization, Pace has published widely in journals such as Mediterranean Politics, Journal of Common Market Studies, and Third World Quarterly. Her books include Knowledge Production in Higher Education (MUP, 2023), The Routledge Handbook of EU–Middle East Relations (2021), and Syrian Refugee Children in the Middle East and Europe (2018). In conversation with Polly Pallister-Wilkins, Michelle Pace unpacks how Denmark’s “paradigm shift” in refugee policy reflects deeper European anxieties about belonging, identity, and moral responsibility.

People in this episode

Host: Polly Pallister-Wilkins

Guest: Michelle Pace

Topics covered

• refugee policy
• Denmark
• migration
• European identity
• humanitarian ideals

Keywords

• Denmark
• refugees
• migration
• humanitarian
• European policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Chatham House, Manchester University Press, Mediterranean Politics, Journal of Common Market Studies, Third World Quarterly

Books & works: Un-Welcome in Denmark: The Paradigm Shift and Refugee Integration, Knowledge Production in Higher Education, The Routledge Handbook of EU–Middle East Relations, Syrian Refugee Children in the Middle East and Europe

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