THE REFUGEE CRISIS AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE STABILITY OF POST-CONFLICT TRANSIT COUNTRIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Abstract

The 2011 Arab Spring has created a serious migration and humanitarian crisis. Asylum seekers began attempting to reach Europe through various routes due to brutal conflict in their home countries. This influx has affected countries on the periphery of the European Union, including the Western Balkans. The Western Balkans route is the second-most traversed route from the Middle East and North Africa to the EU. The surge of migration into these so-called transit countries have left them grappling with questions of how to manage, process, and integrate refugee populations. This thesis looks at three case countries – Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia – and seeks to explain why and what effects this influx of asylum seekers and, often, the unanticipated long-term stay of asylum seekers has on the political, economic, and social stability of the case countries.