The rapidly increasing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe since 2014 have given the topic of refugee migration heightened public and scholarly attention. Starting from the observation that the legal status and rights of refugees from Ukraine differ markedly from those from Syria and other Middle Eastern and North African countries, this special issue inquires about external and internal bordering processes, as well as the lived experiences of these different groups of refugees regarding processes of arriving and settling. While states have an obligation to grant asylum to persecuted persons, they have also engaged in more wide-reaching bordering practices, affecting external borders, exemplified through debates about NGO rescue missions at sea, as well as internal borders, as they appear, e.g., in the field of refugee accommodation. The lived experiences of arriving and settling are influenced by the legal status and rights accorded, but also by the gender composition of the refugee population. Ukrainian refugees are predominantly female, which impacts on transnational family arrangements and intentions to settle or to return. Lastly, this special issue seeks to contribute to the “affective turn” in the social sciences, highlighting how forced migration can be understood through the lens of emotions.