This article addresses the patterns of politicisation of migration and its implications for European integration, investigating the refugee crisis that coincided with the EU referendums in the UK and Denmark. In this framework, we distinguish three patterns of politicisation -domestic, international, and remote conflict- in which various actors form coalitions, address or target each other while debating migration issues. Empirical results from the claims-making analysis demonstrated that migration issues were exceptionally politicised during the refugee crisis contributing to disintegration and opt-out outcomes in the UK and Denmark. Also, we observed that migration issues were mostly debated as an international conflict between domestic publics and ‘others’ with strong linkages to the EU.
