The aim of the publication is a comparative analysis of the migration crisis of 2015 and 2022, with particular emphasis on refugee policy in Turkey and Poland and in the broadly understood context of the European Union. Embedded in the interdisciplinary field of European Studies, the article is based on the assumption that the dynamics and scale of migration flows in 2022 distinguish this crisis from the events of 2015, and the neighborly location of Ukraine influenced a different assessment of the situation than it was in the case of conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa or the Middle East. The cultural and ethnic proximity of Ukrainians has played a key role and is reflected in EU legislation regulating their status as displaced persons. The conclusions highlight the trend in Turkey and EU countries to renationalise refugee protection measures, the temporary nature of which is becoming a common standard. The research is based on the legal-dogmatic method, institutional analysis, comparative method and discourse analysis, using appropriate research techniques.