Ilse van Liempt

Young Dutch Somalis in the UK: Citizenship, Identities and Belonging in a Transnational Triangle

Abstract In this article the case of young Somalis with a Dutch passport living in the UK is taken as an example to illustrate that new mobilities have resulted in complex transnational orientations on the part of migrants that may involve more than two different countries. In the early 1990s many Somalis arrived in the Netherlands as asylum seekers. Ten years later, however, a third of the Dutch Somali community had moved to the United Kingdom, many of them at a very young age. These Dutch citizens with a Somali background who now live in the UK are orientated towards the Netherlands (a country where most have resided for more than ten years and where some were even born), the UK (their new ‘home country’), as well as Somalia where they themselves or their parents were raised. These complex affective links with various countries challenge us to reflect critically on the relationships between citizenship, identities and belonging and have an impact on Dutch Somalis’ return mobilities.Abstract In this article the case of young Somalis with a Dutch passport living in the UK is taken as an example to illustrate that new mobilities have resulted in complex transnational orientations on the part of migrants that may involve more than two different countries. In the early 1990s many Somalis arrived in the Netherlands as asylum seekers. Ten years later, however, a third of the Dutch Somali community had moved to the United Kingdom, many of them at a very young age. These Dutch citizens with a Somali background who now live in the UK are orientated towards the Netherlands (a country where most have resided for more than ten years and where some were even born), the UK (their new ‘home country’), as well as Somalia where they themselves or their parents were raised. These complex affective links with various countries challenge us to reflect critically on the relationships between citizenship, identities and belonging and have an impact on Dutch Somalis’ return mobilities.

From Dutch Dispersal to Ethnic Enclaves in the UK

Since 2000, a considerable number of Somalis with Dutch passports have started to move from cities and small towns in the Netherlands, which were relatively mixed, to residential environments in the UK with much higher concentrations of Somalis and other immigrants. This paper examines experiences of integration and segregation in the Netherlands and the UK by interviewing some of these Somalis. What do their experiences teach us about segregation and integration? It was found that current understandings of segregation and integration are too focused on cultural aspects, and overlook structural factors that obstruct immigrants’ integration. They also give rise to an inability to imagine immigrants’ own feelings of belonging and their transnational orientations.Since 2000, a considerable number of Somalis with Dutch passports have started to move from cities and small towns in the Netherlands, which were relatively mixed, to residential environments in the UK with much higher concentrations of Somalis and other immigrants. This paper examines experiences of integration and segregation in the Netherlands and the UK by interviewing some of these Somalis. What do their experiences teach us about segregation and integration? It was found that current understandings of segregation and integration are too focused on cultural aspects, and overlook structural factors that obstruct immigrants’ integration. They also give rise to an inability to imagine immigrants’ own feelings of belonging and their transnational orientations.

Introduction: Geographies of the urban night

Academic research tends to overlook what happens when night falls. This special issue aims to bring the space–time of the urban night to the fore by asking how nocturnal cities are produced, used, experienced and regulated in different geographical contexts. Despite local variations and specificities important similarities and ongoing transformations are identified regarding the long-term trends in the formation of the space–times of the urban night. We have structured this special issue on the basis of four important focal points of research for studying the night: (1) changing meanings and experiences of urban darkness and nights; (2) the evolution of the night-time economy; (3) the intensification of regulation; and (4) dynamics in practices of going out. By bringing different sets of literature and theoretical perspectives together this special issue provides a relational perspective on the urban night.

Different geographies and experiences of ‘assisted’ types of migration: a gendered critique on the distinction between trafficking and smuggling

This article presents three stories of female migrants who were assisted in their migration process from the Horn of Africa, Iraq and the former Soviet Union to the Netherlands. The stories are contextualized within the results of a wider research project on assisted migration involving 56 interviews and demonstrate the diverse practices and experiences of womens assisted migration. By ‘assisted’ is meant the assistance certain migrants need in order to be able to cross borders, given the lack of legal channels available to them – a process usually talked about as smuggling or trafficking. The article argues that the policy discourse surrounding these assisted types of migration is highly gendered, reproduces stereotypes and completely ignores the wider context in which these movements take place. The fact that for some women from certain parts of the world there are no other options than to travel in this particular way, and that the risks involved in migration can be relatively low compared to the risks faced at ‘home’, is rarely acknowledged in accounts of human smuggling or trafficking. Moreover, framing assisted female migrants as victims can lead to the generalization that all migrant women are at risk and need to be protected. This, in turn, may lead to protective policy measures that often restrict womens choices even further.This article presents three stories of female migrants who were assisted in their migration process from the Horn of Africa, Iraq and the former Soviet Union to the Netherlands. The stories are contextualized within the results of a wider research project on assisted migration involving 56 interviews and demonstrate the diverse practices and experiences of womens assisted migration. By ‘assisted’ is meant the assistance certain migrants need in order to be able to cross borders, given the lack of legal channels available to them – a process usually talked about as smuggling or trafficking. The article argues that the policy discourse surrounding these assisted types of migration is highly gendered, reproduces stereotypes and completely ignores the wider context in which these movements take place. The fact that for some women from certain parts of the world there are no other options than to travel in this particular way, and that the risks involved in migration can be relatively low compared to the risk...

Safe nightlife collaborations: Multiple actors, conflicting interests and different power distributions

Given the expectation that people will consume more when safety is guaranteed, most cities have, along with the stimulation of nightlife districts, implemented special policies to promote safety. Safe nightlife policies fit in neatly in the larger context of ‘integral’ safety policies where many different actors are expected to collaborate and take responsibility. Very little is known, however, about the interactions between various actors within these new partnerships. This research acknowledges an emerging surveillant ‘assemblage’ in urban nightlife districts where different systems are brought together and practices and technologies are combined and integrated into a larger whole. Interviews with different actors involved in safe nightlife collaborations in Utrecht and Rotterdam (The Netherlands), show how differences in the emergence and set-up of these assemblages, conflicting interests and different power distributions between actors shape collaborations on the ground considerably and result in various local outcomes.Given the expectation that people will consume more when safety is guaranteed, most cities have, along with the stimulation of nightlife districts, implemented special policies to promote safety. Safe nightlife policies fit in neatly in the larger context of ‘integral’ safety policies where many different actors are expected to collaborate and take responsibility. Very little is known, however, about the interactions between various actors within these new partnerships. This research acknowledges an emerging surveillant ‘assemblage’ in urban nightlife districts where different systems are brought together and practices and technologies are combined and integrated into a larger whole. Interviews with different actors involved in safe nightlife collaborations in Utrecht and Rotterdam (The Netherlands), show how differences in the emergence and set-up of these assemblages, conflicting interests and different power distributions between actors shape collaborations on the ground considerably and result in various local outcomes.

Sport in liminal spaces: The meaning of sport activities for refugees living in a reception centre:

This article focuses on the meaning of sport activities for refugees living in a reception centre. We conceptualise the reception centre as a liminal space and analyse how this liminal space affects the meanings of sport activities for refugees. Based on interviews with refugees living in a reception centre we show how sport in this liminal space is to a large extent experienced as a way to overcome the boredom experienced at the centre, to forget about their daily struggles, but also has a large social function as it is an easy opportunity to meet with others. We argue that liminal spaces constrain the organisation of sport activities and its possibilities for realising sport’s ascribed positive spill-overs, such as increasing feelings of belonging. We call for future research, including creative social research approaches, that focus on refugees’ own narratives in order to better understand the role social space plays for the meaning of sport activities for this particular vulnerable group.

Methodological and Ethical Dilemmas in Research Among Smuggled Migrants

This chapter is based on experiences from several research projects on human smuggling and reflects on methodological and ethical concerns when considering fieldwork with smuggled migrants. It is argued that, already from the start, ethical issues may be beyond the control of researchers, as professional review boards themselves are in a powerful position to set the terms for selecting who should be included in research projects and who not. While today it is acknowledged that taking the migrant’s perspective into account is valuable, there are still some challenges to be dealt with. This chapter touches upon the issues of gaining access to participants and building up trust in a context of mistrust and how narrations might be influenced by external structural factors such as the migration experience, policies and administrations, smugglers or the migrant community itself.

Cities and Social Movements: Immigrant Rights Activism in the US, France, and the Netherlands, 1970-2015 / Walter J. Nicholls, Justus Uitermark. : Book Review

Cities and Social Movements is a well written and a very rich book about the history of immigrant rights activism in three different parts of the world. It is rich in its historical descriptions an...