‘Asylum Accommodations Locally Examined’: How the Migration ‘Crisis’ shapes Contemporary Discourses and Everyday-life Experiences in Leiden and Leiderdorp, The Netherlands

This study is an ethnographic research of the procedure and accommodation of asylum seekers in Leiden and Leiderdorp. In a period of three months, I examined the differences between people’s individual experiences with asylum accommodations locally (in Leiden and Leiderdorp) and how their experiences and views are influenced by people's positions, contexts, types of involvement, and the general existing social-cultural image of asylum seekers, their accommodation, and the ‘migration crisis’. Thereby, I examined the perspectives of different stakeholders, such as the residents of the centres, local Dutch residents, local authorities, staff members of the centres, migrant support organisations, and volunteers, using data from interviews, observations, and text analyses. Although the centres in Leiden and Leiderdorp do not resemble a crisis situation like Ter Apel, the perceptions and daily life experiences of those involved were still shaped by the crisis narrative. To understand how...Show moreThis study is an ethnographic research of the procedure and accommodation of asylum seekers in Leiden and Leiderdorp. In a period of three months, I examined the differences between people’s individual experiences with asylum accommodations locally (in Leiden and Leiderdorp) and how their experiences and views are influenced by people's positions, contexts, types of involvement, and the general existing social-cultural image of asylum seekers, their accommodation, and the ‘migration crisis’. Thereby, I examined the perspectives of different stakeholders, such as the residents of the centres, local Dutch residents, local authorities, staff members of the centres, migrant support organisations, and volunteers, using data from interviews, observations, and text analyses. Although the centres in Leiden and Leiderdorp do not resemble a crisis situation like Ter Apel, the perceptions and daily life experiences of those involved were still shaped by the crisis narrative. To understand how local asylum accommodations operate and are experienced by different stakeholders, it is therefore essential to delve into the broader political and social dynamics of those accommodations, including the role of the claim of crisis, (in)visibility, information provision, and processes of categorization, stigmatization, and othering.Show less

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‘Asylum Accommodations Locally Examined’: How the Migration ‘Crisis’ shapes Contemporary Discourses and Everyday-life Experiences in Leiden and Leiderdorp, The Netherlands