Opinions of policy actors on migration and refugee policy are increasingly polarized due to the various economic and migrant “crises”. Especially in the current context of these crises, governments have to engage increasingly more in information-spreading activity to persuade their citizens to support their international commitment to protect refugees. Micro-blogging platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube, which are not subject to strict fact-checks and 4 editor-scrutiny like conventional media, empower policy actors without the necessary resources for expensive media campaigns and with non-mainstream political preferences.
The relation between the UNHCR and the government: a leap in time and refugee protection
Throughout its history, by trial and error, UNHCR has acquired the skills to negotiate with individual states and convince them that refugee protection is in the interests of individual refugees, but also of states and the global community.