Surviving in the Netherlands; a research about the coping strategies of rejected asylum seekers in Nijmegen

Abstract

Many asylum seekers choose to stay without papers in the Netherlands, after their asylum request got rejected, thereby being excluded from shelter and financial support given by the government. They need to use so-called ‘coping strategies’ to fulfil their basic human needs. In the academic literature four coping strategies stand out as being the most important and most frequently used, namely finding work, finding shelter, support from their social network, and support from institutional actors. In this research it is examined if and to what extend these four coping strategies are being used among rejected asylum seekers in the Dutch mid-size town Nijmegen. Through multiple in-depth interviews it could be concluded that especially the support of the social network and institutional actors is extremely important. Shelter and work were in most cases found through the own social network and with the support of institutional actors. Therefore, it can be questioned if work and shelter are real coping strategies or more basic human needs.