Richard Staring

‘Scenes from a Fake Marriage’: Notes on the Flip-side of Embeddedness

Just before April Fool’s Day 1994, a rumour circulated amongst the Turkish community in the city of Amsterdam that undocumented migrants1 with a job could apply for a residence permit. Approximately 1000 undocumented Turkish immigrants presented themselves at the Aliens Police office in the belief that they could acquire legal status in the Netherlands for 1000 guilders (approximately

Smuggling Aliens Toward the Netherlands: the Role of Human Smugglers and Transnational Networks

581 or £373). It transpired that a permit to stay could not in fact be bought (de Volkskrant, 1 April 1994).

Human trafficking in the Netherlands: trends and recent developments

Almost eight decades ago, Stockwell’s article “Our Oldest National Problem ” was published in the American Journal of Sociology. A US Immigration Service employee at the time, he describes the main elements of the 1924 Immigration Act, including the “successful formation of the border patrol ” along the Canadian and Mexican borders (1927: 750). He presents a vivid account of the “lawless element ” that has to be dealt with: people who have “less compunction in the taking of human life than in violating the laws of the country ” (ibid.: 751-52). Simultaneously, Stockwell notes several other channels of illegal entry such as the “seaman route ” used by alien seamen who desert ship after arriving at an American port and stay. Others immigrants go to Cuba and from there come as “contraband aliens ” with sailing ships or motorboats. Stockwell also refers to entering the country by evading immigration laws, e.g. the “student class entry ” used by aliens to take advantage of the unrestricted entrance options for students, but without ever matriculating. The author mentions the “tourist route ” used by visitors to the United States who as nonimmigrants are exempt from the quota and become permanent residents by staying past their departure date (ibid.: 752–54).

The Flesh is Weak, the Spirit Even Weaker Clients and Trafficked Women in the Netherlands

Notwithstanding the lift on the ban of brothels in the Netherlands during 2000, the introduction of the integral approach and other efforts to fight human trafficking; this trade still continues to exist within the licensed sector. Simultaneously, prostitution increasingly moved to Dutch cities with less strict regulations or control, and also to more invisible realms (escort services, internet). ICT facilitate this backstage informal sex work by offering a fluid, flexible, dynamic podium that is difficult to control. The internet is increasingly used by traffickers in order to recruit potential victims, to blackmail victims with images or by exploiting victims through webcam exposure. In 2005, human trafficking was extended in law towards exploitation in all labor sectors and, in 2011, illegal stay was criminalized in the Netherlands. This criminalization could hinder the fight against human traffickers.

Wereldbeelden en weerbaarheid van Turks-Nederlandse jongeren: De twee gezichten van een sterke interne gerichtheid

Almost all existing studies and knowledge in the Netherlands on women trafficking for prostitution focus on the nature and extent of the “supply” side (criminal organizations and networks, transnational routes, recruitment techniques, exploitation forms, etc.), centre upon the life and situation of the women (regarded as victims, migrants, prostitutes or criminals) or are concerned with policy issues and interventions on women trade and prostitution.

On responsibilisation and remote border control instruments

Many of the common academic explanations for radicalization and extremism are present among Turkish-Dutch youngsters. Based on qualitative research among 150 youngsters with a Turkish background, the authors describe how these youngsters are catching up with their disadvantaged socioeconomic position in the areas of education and labor. These Muslim youngsters feel that they and Islam are increasingly met with distrust and exclusion in mainstream society. In the sociocultural domain of incorporation, Turkish-Dutch youngsters are very diverse, but within this diversity focussed on their own ethnic group. Although these characteristics as deprivation, exclusion and strong internal orientation are commonly used as risks for radicalization, these Turkish-Dutch youngsters seem not to be attracted to Islamic radicalism nor extremism. The authors explain this through the opportunities for political participation within their communities and the specific Turkish secular Islam that offers room for a more individualized religious interpretation. In addition the strong internal focus of these youngsters and the solidity of the Turkish communities create strain between different Turkish religious or political groups, but also offer them a very strong, positive identity and feelings of belonging.

The ends of globalization : bringing society back in

__Abstract__ Bespreking van: S. Scholten, Privatisation of immigration control? A socio-legal study on the role of private transport companies in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (PhD thesis), Nijmegen: Radboud University Nijmegen 2014