Refugee Crisis and the Role of NGO Lobbying

Vishnu Muraleedharan; Thomas Andrew Bryer

doi:10.5755/j01.ppaa.19.1.25148

Authors

Vishnu Muraleedharan Kaunas University of Technology
Thomas Andrew Bryer UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.19.1.25148

Keywords:

refugee, lobbying, political communication, decision making, public policy, Florida

Abstract

Migration is a significant human phenomenon in which the people were moving across the globe in search of better living conditions. However, due to the violent political scenario between nations forced the displacement of millions of people for survival and currently, around 70.8 million people have been displaced across the world (UNHCR, 2019). It requires attention that even though there are various organisation’s to support migrants, NGO’s play a pivotal role in protecting humanitarian aspects of the migrants and their integration. About the NGO mechanisms, the significant measures are the lobbying and the mediatised political communication for effective policy changes. Therefore, it is significant to identify how NGO’s influence on political communication and policy decision making using social media platforms and lobbying mechanism in the state of Florida in the United States. The article aims to identify the role of NGO on addressing the migrant crisis and upholding of sanctuary policy in Florida which facilitates migrant integration. Research methods include a qualitative interview with the Florida Immigrant Coalition and their social media discourse. The finding could be useful for effective immigrant integration and the significant policy measures needed for facilitating migrant integration.

Author Biographies

Vishnu Muraleedharan, Kaunas University of Technology

Vishnu Muraleedharan – is a third-year PhD researcher in Political Sciences at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities, Kaunas University of Technology. He has completed Master of Public Policy and Administration from the Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania.

Thomas Andrew Bryer, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Dr Thomas Andrew Bryer is highly published and conducts extensive research in the areas of public participation and collaboration across segments of society, including government, non-profit, private, faith-based, and voluntary sectors. He has won multiple awards for his research, teaching, and service. In 2015, he received the Fulbright Core Scholar award to research Lithuania from 2015-2017, and he is currently a Fulbright Specialist, which will include work in Russia. He maintains an affiliation at the Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania as Project Chief Researcher, leading research on non-economic factors of emigration, and he is visiting professor in the Institute for Public Policy and Professional Practice at Edge Hill University in the United Kingdom.