From heroes to vulnerable victims: labelling Christian Turks as genuine refugees in the 1970s

In 1975, the first Christian Turks applied for asylum in the Netherlands. They were at first denied, and only in the early 1980s did they finally begin to win refugee status from the Dutch government. In the meantime, they faced years of uncertainty. Campaigns of lobbyists in the years between 1977...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethnic and racial studies 2013-07, Vol.36 (7), p.1199-1218
Main Author: Walaardt, Tycho
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asylum
asylum procedure
Certainty
Christian Turks
Christianity
Christians
Decision making
Ethnicity
Heroes
Lobbying
lobbyists
Netherlands
Political Campaigns
Politics
Racism
Refugees
Suryoye
the Netherlands
Victims
Vulnerability
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In 1975, the first Christian Turks applied for asylum in the Netherlands. They were at first denied, and only in the early 1980s did they finally begin to win refugee status from the Dutch government. In the meantime, they faced years of uncertainty. Campaigns of lobbyists in the years between 1977 and 1983 contributed to end their waiting. Their campaigns caused a drastic change of the image of the 'deserving refugee' in the Netherlands. This article explores the arguments that lobbyists used to influence decision-makers. It shows how and why the public and political image of the 'deserving refugee' had to change in order to successfully claim refugee status.
ISSN:0141-9870
1466-4356
DOI:10.1080/01419870.2013.783706