Mens en Maatschappij
Volume 92, Issue 4, 2017, Pages 395-420

Social media in and around the emergency shelter for refugees near Nijmegen, the Netherlands [Sociale media in en rondom de vluchtelingennoodopvang bi Nimegen] (Article)

Smets P. , Younes Y. , Dohmen M. , Boersma K. , Brouwer L.
  • a Vrie Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, HV Amsterdam, 1081, Netherlands
  • b Vrie Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, HV Amsterdam, 1081, Netherlands
  • c Allesbinder, Weurtseweg 150, BA Nimegen, 6541, Netherlands
  • d Vrie Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, HV Amsterdam, 1081, Netherlands
  • e Vrie Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, HV Amsterdam, 1081, Netherlands

Abstract

To cope with the limited capacity of the established reception centres during the refugee crisis of 2015, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) set up emergency reception centers for refugees such as Heumensoord nearby the Dutch city of Nijmegen. At the peak of the crisis, the Heumensoord centre hosted about 3,000 asylum seekers. COA's organizational approach to manage reception centers was characterized by a topdown policy. At the same time, host communities of local residents around the emergency reception center developed horizontal relations within and beyond the walls of the center, actively using available social media platforms such as Facebook. These horizontal relations enabled the development of social relations, and facilitated the exchange of goods and services. This article demonstrates the different communication strategies used by the stakeholders at Heumensoord, and how the different worlds of asylum seekers and the receiving, host communities came together. It also presents bottom-up alternatives to the top-down crisis approaches by unravelling cooperation options and the use of social media platforms that can lead to a more resilient interaction between asylum seekers and local communities. © 2017 Amsterdam University Press. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

Resilience Social media Crisis communication Refugees Emergency shelter

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85048858541&doi=10.5117%2fMEM2017.4.SMET&partnerID=40&md5=83e2582b5c462fbd1a7cd2df4aa1b8d8
DOI: 10.5117/MEM2017.4.SMET
ISSN: 00259454
Cited by: 3
Original Language: Dutch