Abstract:

The world is currently facing the largest refugee crisis since World War II. At the same time, refugees have negative connotations, with the European public’s propensity to help being on shaky ground. In this paper, we therefore investigate whether increasing public education of the refugee crisis by tackling the most prevalent barriers to support with targeted communication can positively influence a change in public attitudes and behaviours. In doing so, we seek to advise key stakeholders (governments, media and non-profitable organisations) on how to most effectively communicate to the European public about the refugee crisis, in order to increase positive perceptions and drive affirmative action.