Refugee debate heats up on social media

As the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe continues, New Zealanders are using social media to call for action and offer help.

The country's annual refugee quota is 750, and Prime Minister John Key had said the government would not reassess quotas before a scheduled review next year. However, yesterday, amidst mounting pressure to take action, he softened his stance.

More on the global migrant and refugee crisis from RNZ

• 'They’re all human beings'
• Refugees or migrants?

As a harrowing picture of a dead three-year-old migrant gained worldwide attention, the pressure came from opposition MPs and humanitarian groups, but could also be seen building on social media.

Advocacy group Doing Our Bit, led by Wellington resident Murdoch Stephens, has been campaigning for two years to double the quota and to double funding for groups working with refugees.

The group has also started a campaign on online petition website ActionStation to immediately offer spaces to 100 more refugees from Syria - over and above the annual quota.

At 11am today, the petition had gathered over 6500 signatures - over halfway to its target of 10,000.

ActionStation national director Marianne Elliott said in an email that interest had grown rapidly.

"We started this back in June and it was very slow - which was personally heartbreaking for me at the time, as someone who has worked and lived in the Middle East," she said.

"But this week the tide of public concern really seems to have turned and it has been growing fast."

She estimated that over 4500 of those people had signed the petition this week.

Many have also pledged to take in refugees on a Facebook page set up by activist Urs Signer.

One Auckland woman, Susan Wills, said she had a sleepout and a spare room, and would be keen to help.

"Becuase we have travelled in Syria and were overwhelmed by the hospitality, the friendliness and kindness of the people who we met there, we wouldn't hesitate to stretch out a hand ourselves."

Ms Wills said, in the meantime, she had offered to donate household items and any other help she could provide to refugee agencies.

'Can New Zealand make a difference?'

While many posts on social media in the last 48 hours were firmly in favour of increasing the quota, others questioned how much of a difference New Zealand would really make.

Some people also questioned what would happen if extra refugees arrived.

How people are reacting on Radio New Zealand's Facebook page:

• "60 million people, that's like 15x our country's population. That is just so tragic on a scale I cannot even fathom.. :(" - Jennova Parker, 2 September 2015
• "It is a human duty to help others and to turn our backs is just cold." - Jethro Shreuder, 2 September 2015
• "As well as helping these people now we should be removing the cause of the human flood ie their countries being bombed into oblivion by the usual suspects." - Jon Muller, 2 September 2015
• "Good to see this Refugee 101 spiel, but please in addition to increasing the quota, can we create infrastructure beyond the six-week orientation at Mangere, so resettlement does not depend on the voluntary and NGO sector? Can we create meaningful pathways to education and employment so people of refugee backgrounds can maintain autonomy and self-determination?" - Ruth DeSouza, 2 September 2015
• "Overpopulation is causing so many problems for the planet. Why are we so short-sighted that we want to hasten the population growth of NZ?" - Jamie Mclauchlan, 3 September 2015
• "How can we help more needy people if we are unable to help those already in NZ and suffering?" - Keiko Mattock-Smith, 4 September 2015

How people are reacting on Reddit:

• "I'm for more refugees but would prefer to take less and spend more on them so that in time they'd be better integrated and productive. Probably doesn't work like that though." - therealseymourskinner, 3 September 2015
• "Many NZers think that allowing too many refugees into the country will adversely affect their lives... I believe we need to accept more where possible, but it's a band-aid solution really. NZ is too small to be able to address the root issue, being ISIS and the current state of Syria." - randomalbumtitle, 3 September 2015
• "Surely people a couple of hundred extra people are not going to significantly effect the 4,471,000 of us already living here. Heck most of us wouldn't even notice probably." - SNAFUGGOWLAS, 3 September 2015

With the country's potential flag change also trending on social media this week, Scoop's Lyndon Hood argued this point: "If a flag is supposed to represent our nation, let's make the nation something we're proud of."