In August 2021, approximately one thousand Afghans fled to the Netherlands after the Taliban seized power. Refugee support agencies had to organise so much in a short time that the sudden arrival of so many refugees inevitably left them overwhelmed. “Especially when there is a lot of work and support from the authorities has yet to be organised, volunteers play a crucial role,” says sociologist Maikel Meijeren. “They’re like the fire brigade, putting out fires by being ready at any moment to support refugees and welcome them to a new country.”
In Nijmegen, where both 2015 and 2021 emergency shelters were set up at Heumensoord, it seemed as if a volunteer network was awakening after years of hibernation, Meijeren argues. “This research study was not planned, but with all the initiatives practically springing up in Radboud University's backyard, we obviously couldn't ignore it.”
Fun distraction or career opportunity?
Together with Marcel Lubbers and Peer Scheepers, Meijeren approached 44 volunteers via VluchtelingenWerk Nijmegen and the Yalla Foundation and asked them in focus groups about their motivations for volunteering. The researchers also interviewed five coordinators at refugee organisations. They compared the results with general insights from the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI), the main scale for measuring volunteers' motivations.
The VFI identifies six main motivations: helping others out of compassion, wanting to understand other people better and learn from others, wanting to work in a social setting with friends, wanting to take a step forward in your career, or trying to distract yourself from your own problems and feel better about yourself.
Although these motivations partly overlapped with the motivations of volunteers at refugee organisations, they did not quite cover the full scope, says Meijeren. “Compassion, as expected, was a key motivator, as was gaining new skills and learning from others.” Feeling better about yourself did not prove to be a major motivation, neither did working with friends. On the contrary. “Some volunteers even reported that people in their environment did not like them working with refugees, and that they had not told all their friends about their volunteer work.”
“Career opportunities weighed especially strongly with young volunteers. For older volunteers who were nearing retirement, this was obviously not a factor.” In addition, the volunteers adamantly denied that working with refugees helped protect or distract them from their own problems. The coordinators, on the other hand, did say that the work acted as an outlet for some volunteers.”
Meaningful way to spend time
The focus groups also revealed motivations that did not match the VFI motivations. Meijeren: “First of all, many interviewees felt that helping refugees was a meaningful way to spend their time. Moreover, they indicated that they found the work satisfying because their efforts led to quick and visible results.” Furthermore, personal emotions played a role in getting started as a volunteer. “Some volunteers care about the fate of refugees because they or their parents once had to flee themselves.” Finally, media coverage proved influential. “Apart from any curiosity they felt, many volunteers also wanted their efforts to provide a counterbalance to negative reporting and protests about the arrival of refugees.”
The study findings can help refugee organisations in gaining more insight and recruiting volunteers. “This is especially important for organisations like VluchtelingenWerk Nijmegen, where volunteers are supervised and perform concrete functions.”
Whereas in this study, Meijeren studied why people start volunteering, in future he hopes to investigate what helps volunteers remain active, and at what stages of life people are most likely to volunteer. “I'm also curious about whether there are indeed volunteer networks that go into hibernation when there is no crisis, and mobilise once again when needed. That is beyond the scope of my PhD research, but I'd be interested to see it investigated.”
Publication
Meijeren, M., Lubbers, M., & Scheepers, P. (2023). Assessing the 'Why' in Volunteering for Refugees: Exploring Volunteer Motivations. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organisations, online first.
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