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  • 2015-11-18 (xsd:date)
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  • Syrian Refugees Complain About Slow Internet, No Television (en)
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  • Although rumor and debate over the Syrian refugee crisis was rife on social media throughout 2015, a series of coordinated attacks on civilians in Paris brought the issue into sudden, sharp relief worldwide due to initial rumors that asylum seekers were responsible for the incidents. Among items which circulated as a result of intensified overall interest in Syrian refugees was a video during which asylum seekers (primarily a woman) appeared to complain about the amenities on the ground in the Netherlands, where the clip was captured by DenHaagTV: The clip embedded above (Vluchtelingen ontevreden met opvang ministerie) was published to YouTube on 12 November 2015, one day prior to the Paris attacks. It's difficult to say whether the video would have gone viral worldwide had the attacks not occurred, but their wake inspired articles with titles such as WATCH: MIGRANTS DISLIKE FOOD, DEMAND TVS, THREATEN TO GO BACK TO SYRIA, MIGRANTS SLEEP ON THE STREETS IN PROTEST AT NOT HAVING TVS IN THEIR ROOMS, and ABSURD: 'Refugees' Threaten To Go BACK To Syria If These Demands Are Not Met. Another article quoted the depicted woman's comments: Articles about purportedly ungrateful Syrian asylum seekers didn't begin with the attacks in Paris. For example, a 27 September 2015 article published by British tabloid Express and titled 'Bored' migrants BEMOAN lack of cash to buy cigarettes and slow internet in camps hinted at the underlying causes of refugee frustration: On 12 November 2015, the video embedded above was the subject of an AD.nl article titled (via rough translation) Refugees demonstrate in the streets for better reception. That coverage provided context for the clip absent in later versions: As the written material published alongside the shorter clip explained, refugee protests primarily focused on the fact that asylum seekers were held indefinitely in converted office buildings unsuitable for habitation (i.e., lacking sufficient bathroom facilities, privacy, laundry, food). The woman in the clip (in somewhat broken English) appeared to be describing frustrations with an indeterminate stay in what amounted to a short-term holding facility never intended to house residents. While the refugees did mention food quality, televisions, and short funds, the gist of their complaints was about their inability to settle, find work, and earn their own money after fleeing Syria. A 12 November 2015 NLTimes.nl article further reported that the length of time refugees spent in emergency accommodation, overcrowding, and substandard living conditions: Refugees weren't the only people frustrated with the situation in the Netherlands; UNICEF raised concerns about treatment of children in the emergency shelters: A brief clip video depicted the same woman speaking in both broad daylight and at night, indicating it was culled from several hours of a protest, not a single minute of complaints. The entirety of the woman's remarks wasn't released by the Dutch TV station, but the refugees' actual stated complaints (being held for four months in a makeshift shelter) differed markedly from how those grievances were portrayed in media reports. The woman in the clip didn't appear to be threatening to return to Syria, but rather lamenting that asylum seekers remained in jail-like conditions for the foreseeable future. (en)
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