Following Refugee Welcome Week, Yordi Lassooy, founder of Migration Inc., was interviewed by De Kanttekening. Below is a short summary.
In the interview, Yordi highlights the importance of meeting and connecting with one another at a time when public debate on migration is becoming increasingly polarized. Refugees and people with a migration background are often talked about, but too rarely included in the conversations that concern them.
Refugee Welcome Week was founded on the belief that social cohesion is not created through policy alone, but primarily by bringing people together. By sharing meals, playing sports, making music, and exchanging stories, people develop mutual understanding. As Yordi explains in the interview: “Familiarity breeds understanding.”
Inspired by the Refugee Welcome movement in the United Kingdom, the initiative provides a platform for anyone who wants to create opportunities for connection and dialogue within their local community. During Refugee Welcome Week, activities took place in several Dutch cities, creating space for dialogue, solidarity, and what the organizers call “radical hope”: not waiting for change to happen, but taking action to build a more inclusive society.
Yordi emphasizes that real change begins when people get to know one another as human beings rather than as subjects of a political debate. Guided by this principle, Refugee Welcome Week brings together refugees, newcomers, and other residents to help build a society where everyone feels welcome.
Read the full interview in De Kanttekening: Refugee Welcome Week wants to bring people together: “Policy will follow.”
