This study focused on newspaper articles with information about protest activities and policy changes in asylum policy, and is aimed to understand the influence of societal protest activities on asylum policy, and if so how, which actors and what activities have contributed to possible policy changes and how this changed between 2005 and 2018. Four individual poignant cases were analyzed, all involving children. The data consisted of approximately 100 newspaper articles from national and local newspapers, which were selected through convenience sampling. The results show that protest activities and media attention of the beneficiary could contribute to policy changes. Especially when NGOs and academics are gaining interest in the cases, the used arguments can influence policy. NGOs and academics are showing negative effects on psychological development of children, while friends and families are showing more emotional reasons to protect the beneficiary from deportation. Due to the individual cases and public pressure, the asylum issue has always been on the agenda of the Second Chamber. However, outcomes of deportation decisions are different for children who reached the media and for children who did not.

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dr. M van Houte, dr AS Leerkes
hdl.handle.net/2105/50629
Sociology
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Wevers, S. (2019, June 17). The effects on deportation policy through societal activism against deportation. An analysis of four poignant cases in the Netherlands. Sociology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/50629