Media, Community Building, and Refugee Resettlement Policies: The Impact of Canada’s Welcoming Culture and Media Coverage on the Settlement Outcomes of Resettled Syrian Refugees
PDF

Keywords

Community building
migration
public opinion
storytelling
inclusion
citizenship

How to Cite

Nasri, M. (2020). Media, Community Building, and Refugee Resettlement Policies: The Impact of Canada’s Welcoming Culture and Media Coverage on the Settlement Outcomes of Resettled Syrian Refugees. Bibliotekarz Podlaski, 47(2), 139–155. https://doi.org/10.36770/bp.474

Abstract

This paper argues that positive online media coverage of Syrian refugees arriving in Canada, and the welcoming culture of Canadian society, have both influenced positive settlement and integration outcomes for Syrian refugees. It also provides a better understanding of Canada’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis and shows how the process of resettlement becomes stronger when local community members and citizens are involved. These arguments are demonstrated firstly by analyzing the relationship between welcoming cultures, positive media coverage, and the perception of refugees. Secondly, the role of media coverage in influencing welcoming cultures in Canada, as well as its role in encouraging community members and ordinary citizens to be involved in national humanitarian projects, is described. Finally, information related to Canada’s welcoming culture and positive media coverage are discussed relative to settlement outcomes, which portrays the strong influence of storytelling and inclusive communities on the success of new immigrants as they rebuild their lives in a new country. The various refugee resettlement programs in Canada are also outlined. The Canadian response to the Syrian refugee crisis has demonstrated to the world a different approach to civic engagement and humanitarian work. This national humanitarian response may be perceived as a major successful project. Nevertheless, it also leaves us with many unanswered questions around the topic, and most importantly, questions about the relationship between politics and power, citizenship, culture, online media and public opinions. 

https://doi.org/10.36770/bp.474
PDF

References

Boomgaarden, H. G., Matthes J., & Lecheler S. (2018). Refugees, Media, and Public Opinion: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Mass Communication and Society, 21(4), 531-532.

Bozdag, C., & Smets K. (2017). Understanding the Images of Alan Kurdi with “Small Data”: A Qualitative, Comparative Analysis of Tweets about Refugees in Turkey and Flanders. International Journal of Communication (Online), 11, 4046-4069.

Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) (2006, April). The Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program: Current Challenges and Opportunities. http://ccrweb.ca/en/private-sponsorship-refugees-program-current-challenges-and-opportunities

Carman, T. (2015, September 19). Two Generations of Boat People, 40 Years Apart; Refugees Who Fled Vietnam Band Together to Help Syrians. The Vancouver Sun.

Bolu, C. (2017). A Half Welcome. Citizens for Public Justice 2017.

Danilova, V. (2014, July 16). Media and Their Role in Shaping Public Attitudes towards Migrants. Our World. https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/media-and-their-role-in-shaping-public-attitudes-towards-migrants

Dempster, H., & Hargrave, K. (2017). Understanding public attitudes towards refugees and migrants. Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Working Paper 512.

Environics Institute for Survey Research (2018). Canada’s World Survey 2018. Final Report (pp. 1-35). https://www.environicsinstitute.org/docs/default-source/canada’s-world-2018-survey/canada’s-world-survey-2018---final-report.pdf?sfvrsn=17208306_2

Friscolanti, M. (2016, January 21). How a Vietnamese boat person helped save a family of Syrian refugees. Macleans. http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/how-a-vietnamese-boat-person-helped-save-a-family-of-syrian-refugees/

Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (2017). http://refugeesponsorship.org

Hyndman, J., Payne W., & Jimenez S. (2017). Private Refugee Sponsorship in Canada. Forced Migration Review, 54, 56-59.

IRCC, I. Canada welcomes more privately sponsored refugees in 2018. Canada. ca. (last modified April 10 2019). https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/timely-protection-privately-sponsored-refugees.html

Krivenko, E. Y. (2016). The Private Sponsorship of Refugees: A Key Agenda for Integration. Policy Options, 5, 1.

Kumin, J. (2015). Welcoming Engagement: How Private Sponsorship Can Strengthen Refugee Resettlement in the European Union. Migration Policy Institute, 2-15. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/welcoming-engagement-how-private-sponsorshipcan-strengthen-refugee-resettlement-european

Kassam, A. (2017, January 6). The Canadian Who Spent C$1.5M to Rescue More Than 200 Syrian Refugees. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/06/jim-estill-syrian-refugees-canada-guelph-ontario

Kosho, J. (2015). Media Influence on Public Opinion Attitudes Toward the Migration Crisis. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 4(8), 86-91.

Labman, S. (2016). Private Sponsorship: Complementary or Conflicting Interests? Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 32(2), 67-80.

Lawlor, A., & Tolley, E. (2017). Deciding Who’s Legitimate: News Media Framing of Immigrants and Refugees. International Journal of Communication, 11, 967- 991.

Lenard, P. T. (2016). Resettling Refugees: Is Private Sponsorship a just Way Forward?, Journal of Global Ethics, 12(3), 300-310.

Levitz, S. (2016, March 31). A Timeline of Canada’s Policies and Decisions during the Syrian Refugee Crisis. The Canadian Press. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2016/03/31/a-timeline-of-canadas-policies-and-decisions-during-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/

Martin, C. (2018, February 12). Tareq Hadhad on Building a Successful Business in Canada as a Refugee. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/tareq-hadhad-on-building-a-successful-business-in-canada-as-a-refugee/article37933851

Marwah, S. (2016). Syrian Refugees in Canada: Lessons Learned and Insights Gained. Ploughshares Monitor, 37(2), 9-11.

McMurdo, A. M. B. (2016). Causes and Consequences of Canada’s Resettlement of Syrian Refugees. Forced Migration Review, 52, 82-84.

Molloy, M. J., & Simeon, J. C. (2016). The Indochinese Refugee Movement and the Launch of Canada’s Private Sponsorship Program. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 32(2), 3-9.

Papademetriou, D. G., & Heuser, A. (2009, May). Public Opinion, Media Coverage, and Migration: Developing Strategies for Immigration and Integration Reforms. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/public-opinion-media-coverage-and-migration-developing-strategies-immigration-and

Pathberiya, S. (2016). Paying it Forward: Lessons Learned from Syrian Resettlement Can Prepare Us for the Future Waves of Climate Change Refugees. Alternatives Journal, 42(3), 62-66.

Ray, C. (2018, August 5). Syrian Chocolate Company in Antigonish Set to Double in Size. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/peace-by-chocolate-antigonish-company-doubling-in-size-1.4774576

Reker, J. (2014, October). Welcoming Culture: The Benefits of Diversity. Goethe Institute. https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/ges/20439862.html

Swain, L. (2015, October 6). The Influence of the Media On Public Perspective of the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Concrete. https://www.concrete-online.co.uk/the-influence-of-the-media-on-public-perspective-of-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/

Szklarski, C. (2015, December 9). Vietnamese ‘Boat People’ Unite to Sponsor Syrians: ‘it’s the Least we can do’. The Canadian Press. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2015/12/09/vietnamese-boat-people-unite-to-sponsor-syrians-its-the-least-we-can-do/

Treviranus, B., & Casasola, M. (2003). Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program: A Practitioners Perspective of its Past and Future. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 4(2), 177-202.

Tyyska, V., Blower, J., Deboer, S., Kawai, S., & Walcott, A. (2018). Canadian Media coverage of the Syrian Refugee Crisis: Representation, Response, and Resettlement. Geopolitics, History, and International Relations, 10(1), 148-166.

Tyyska, V. (2017). Syrian Refugee Crisis in Canadian Media. Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement.

UNHCR Canada (2017). Canadian Resettlement Fact Sheet.

UNHCR (2017). The Canadian Businessmen Who Sponsored Over 200 Syrian Refugees. https://www.unhcr.ca/news/canadian-entrepreneur-invests-millions-syrian-refugees/

World Vision Canada (2015). Canadian Children Welcome Syrian Refugees to Canada.

GTA Refugee Assistance Hub. https://www.facebook.com/groups/97372062934 0291/

Articles published in the “gold open access” mode on the basis of a non-exclusive license agreement between the publisher and the author. Permitted use:

- the publication may be read and stored on any device,

- the publication may be cited (with obligatory reference to the author, the title of the text, as well as the full title, bibliographic address of the issue and page of the journal)

The editorial team of “Bibliotekarz Podlaski” implements an open access policy by publishing materials in the form of the so-called Gold Open Access. From volume 42 (issue 1/2019), the journal is available under the Creative Commons license (Attribution – ShareAlike: CC BY-SA).

The key declarations of the Open Access and Open Science movement, which we fully support, are available on the CEON Open Science website.

COPYRIGHT:

The editorial team of “Bibliotekarz Podlaski” implements an open access policy by publishing materials in the form of the so-called Gold Open Access. The journal is available under the Creative Commons license – Attribution – ShareAlike 4.0: International: CC BY-SA 4.0).

The key declarations of the Open Access and Open Science movement, which we fully support, are available on the CEON Open Science website.
 

“Bibliotekarz Podlaski” allows its readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search and link to the full content of articles. We enable full, immediate, unlimited (both in a territorial, temporal and technical sense) open access to all published content, in accordance with the principle that freely available research increases and accelerates the global development of science and the exchange of knowledge.

The editorial team of “Bibliotekarz Podlaski” encourages authors to place articles published in the journal in open repositories (after the review or the final version of the publisher), provided that a link to the journal’s website is provided.

The journal does not charge the authors any fees for accepting and publishing their texts.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.