Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 92, Issue 4, 2017

Integration of permit holders: looking back and moving forward: An overview of research on the integration of permit-holding asylum migrants

While the influx of asylum seekers is decreasing, the question emerges how to facilitate the integration of recently arrived permit-holding asylum migrants into the Dutch society. In this article we give an overview of existing research on the integration trajectories of earlier cohorts of permit-holders. We focus on their resources (education, language proficiency, health), their integration into the labour market, and on their socio-cultural integration: social contacts, cultural values and identification with host country. As integration is a two-way process, we also shed light on the receiving society: do permit holders feel accepted into the Dutch society and what is the public opinion on accommodating asylum seekers? We use these insights to discuss expectations on the integration of the current stream of asylum seekers.

Social media in and around the emergency shelter for refugees near Nijmegen, the Netherlands

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 top-down 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.

Big dreams, did they come true? Opportunities and obstacles in the school trajectories of unaccompanied refugee minors

While many unaccompanied minors deal with their precarious situation by focusing on school success, there is a lack of knowledge about the diversity of factors that hinder and stimulate their life trajectories, including their school career. This article focuses on the long term school trajectories of unaccompanied minors who were highly motivated to have a successful school career when they arrived in the Netherlands. We show that in spite of their eagerness and qualities, institutional factors in education and discursive exclusion are obstacles in their school career. Nonetheless, these ambitious young people are largely able to overcome these obstacles by mobilizing different kinds of social support. However, some of them are confronted with a legal obstacle when they turn eighteen and did not obtain a residence ­permit. This makes them unable to continue their school career for several years. Therefore, the school careers of these highly motivated young people vary greatly: some people were still able to make their dreams partly come true, others got marginalized.

The labour market position of refugees and the role of effective policies

This article addresses the problematic labour market position of refugees in the Netherlands on the basis of different relevant explaining factors. The overall picture is that beneficiaries of international protection are facing a great number of difficulties in their attempts to get access to the Dutch ­labour market. These are both related to individual background characteristics and the extent to which the Dutch labour market create sufficient opportunities for these refugees. In addition, Dutch policies are considered in view of their ability to support the participation of refugees in the Dutch labour market. It is argued that Dutch policies are increasingly responsive to solving different problems with which refugees have to deal. All the same, these ­current policies are still not capable of providing fully effective patterns of integration for refugees in the Netherlands. To break this present deadlock, the authors propose a number of policy alternatives.

Life as Ransom

Health care professionals experience ethical dilemmas in the treatment of asylum seekers. Political discussions, depiction and the intertwining of medical and judicial parameters play a role. From a theoretical position on ethics and human rights, we discuss the ethical dilemmas within mental health care where health care professionals find themselves at odds in finding viable solutions for underlying conflicts in fundamental values. This article is based on interviews and focus groups with health care professionals in mental health care about ethical dilemmas with and concerning asylum seekers. The data are analyzed with a discourse analysis on three (3) themes, namely the conditions in which asylum seekers find themselves, the sharing of information with other institutions and the role of advocacy.

In dit artikel kijken we naar de rol van smartphones en sociale media in het proces van je ergens thuis gaan voelen tijdens de overgangsfase van vluchteling naar buurtgenoot in Utrecht. Gebaseerd op participerende observaties tijdens het huisvestigingsproces van statushouders in Utrecht, semi-gestructureerde interviews met statushouders uit Eritrea, Iran, Irak en Syrië en foto’s door statushouders zelf genomen is er inzicht verworven in een veelvoud aan vormen van place-making en gebruik van smartphones en sociale media. Er is zowel een zon- als een schaduwzijde bij dit gebruik in kaart gebracht. We constateerden dat er een spanningsveld bestaat tussen enerzijds het uiting willen geven aan verbondenheid met de stad en anderzijds zorgen over impact op ingebeelde kijkers, die door middel van smartphone en sociale mediagebruik in toenemende mate deelgenoot kunnen worden gemaakt van het proces van je thuis voelen in Utrecht.