- Nigerians in the Netherlands
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Nigerians in the Netherlands
Nigerianen in NederlandTotal population 9,453 (2009)[1] Regions with significant populations Amsterdam, The Hague[2] Religion There is a small community of Nigerians in the Netherlands, which began to grow in the late 1980s.[4]
Contents
Migration history
The earliest Nigerian asylum-seekers came to the Netherlands in 1987. However, in comparison to other African groups, few Nigerians come to the Netherlands as asylum-seekers. Rather, their primary modes of migration are for marriage, for work, or for study.[5] Many of the Nigerians in the Netherlands for training are employees of Royal Dutch Shell. There is also some circular migration between Nigerians in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands.[6] One study, based on the cohort arriving in 1998, estimated that 25% of Nigerians who arrive in the Netherlands leave after four years, a higher percentage than Somalis (23%) or Iranians (15%). Nigerians point to the relative difficulty of finding work or starting businesses as a major driver for re-migration to the United Kingdom.[7]
Demographic characteristics
As of 2009[update], statistics of the Dutch Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek with regards to people of Nigerian origin showed:
- 5,283 persons of first-generation background (3,037 men, 2,246 women)
- 4,170 persons of second-generation background (2,110 men, 2,060 women), of which:
- 2,969 persons with one parent born in the Netherlands (1,507 men, 1,462 women)
- 1,201 persons with both parents born outside the Netherlands (603 men, 598 women)
For a total of 9,453 persons (5,147 men, 4,306 women). This represented roughly three times the 1996 total of 3,136 persons. The population has shown a year-on-year increase every year since then.[8] The proportion of second-generation Nigerians born in the Netherlands has also shown a consistent rise since 1996. The majority of Nigerian adults in the Netherlands are married, have children, and live in families, rather than alone.[9]
Employment
Nigerians have a relatively low unemployment rate compared to other migrant groups, as a result of the fact that most migrated for marriage or specifically for employment purposes, rather than as asylum-seekers.[10] There are estimated to be about 500 Nigerians holding Dutch passports working for large Dutch and international organisations such as ABN AMRO, Nike, the United Nations, the former CMG Consulting, IBM Global Services, Celtel, Orange, KPN, and the trade unions federation FNV.[11] However, many migrants complain that it is difficult to find work commensurate with their qualifications, and that companies impose Dutch-language requirements for even unskilled work such as cleaning.[12]
Crime
There is a large amount of coverage in Dutch media about the criminal activities of Nigerians in the Netherlands, which one scholar has described as a "moral panic".[13][14] In 1999, a study by international NGO Terre des Hommes estimated that roughly 500 Nigerian minors were employed as prostitutes in the Netherlands, and accused the Dutch embassy in Lagos of complicity.[15] They were typically brought in under false pretences as asylum-seekers. As Dutch law prohibits the deportation of unaccompanied minors until it can be ascertained that someone would receive them at their origin, these girls would be placed in shelters, but later disappear.[16] Their number was estimated to have risen 25% by 2001.[17] Human traffickers bringing such minors into the Netherlands used occult or "black magic" rituals as a way of exercising psychological control over them.[18] Between 2000 and 2002, Nigerian migrants' involvement in advance-fee fraud scams also began to show significant growth.[19][20] The 2006 and 2007 report of the United States Postal Inspection Service pointed to the Netherlands as a major hub of such scams, consisting of counterfeit checks and notifications for false lotteries sent by Nigerian networks in the Netherlands. The total value of the fraud was estimated at US$2.1 billion.[21]
References
Notes
- ^ CBS 2009
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 87
- ^ Vermeulen, Maarten (2009-02-21), "Criminele kerkgang", Nederlands Dagblad, http://www.nd.nl/artikelen/2009/februari/20/criminele-kerkgang, retrieved 2009-10-27
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 78
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 78
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 80
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 85
- ^ CBS 2009; the year 1996 is the earliest for which statistics are available online
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 82
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 82
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 84
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 83
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 80
- ^ van Dijk 2001, p. 558
- ^ "Meer Nigeriaanse meisjes in Nederlandse prostitutie", Trouw, 2001-11-14, http://www.trouw.nl/krantenarchief/2001/11/14/2373642/Meer_Nigeriaanse_meisjes_in_Nederlandse_prostitutie.html, retrieved 2009-10-27
- ^ Kamerman, Sheila; Wittenberg, Dick (2009-03-16), "Nigerian human traffickers go on trial in the Netherlands", NRC Handelsblad, http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2182980.ece/Nigerian_human_traffickers_go_on_trial_in_the_Netherlands, retrieved 2009-11-03
- ^ Tiemersma, Heleen (2002-03-13), "Hulp aan kinderprostituee in gevaar", Trouw, http://www.trouw.nl/krantenarchief/2002/03/13/2132914/Hulp_aan_kinderprostituee_in_gevaar.html, retrieved 2009-10-27
- ^ van Dijk 2001, p. 558
- ^ van Heelsum & Hessels 2006, p. 80
- ^ "Amsterdam is the centre of Nigerian spam network", NLC Handelsblad, 2008-10-08, http://www.nrc.nl/international/Features/article2017172.ece/Amsterdam_is_the_centre_of_Nigerian_spam_network, retrieved 2009-11-03
- ^ Eikelenboom, S. (2008-06-19), "Nederland spil in Nigeriaanse miljardenfraude", Het Financieel Dagblad, http://www.fd.nl/artikel/9351293/nederland-spil-nigeriaanse-miljardenfraude, retrieved 2009-10-27
Sources
- van Dijk, Rijk (November 2001), "'Voodoo' on the Doorstep: Young Nigerian Prostitutes and Magic Policing in the Netherlands", Africa 71: 558–586, doi:10.3366/afr.2001.71.4.558
- van Heelsum, Anja; Hessels, Thomas (January 2006), "Nigerianen", Afrikanen uit Angola, DR Congo, Ethiopië, Eritrea, Nigeria en Sudan in Nederland, Den Haag: Ministerie van Justitie, pp. 73–90, OCLC 150216568, http://users.fmg.uva.nl/avanheelsum/2006%20Afrikanen%20in%20Nederland.pdf
- Population by origin and generation, 1 January, The Hague: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 2009, http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?DM=SLEN&PA=37325eng&D1=a&D2=a&D3=0&D4=0&D5=150&D6=0,4-13&LA=EN&HDR=T,G1&STB=G5,G2,G3,G4&VW=T, retrieved 2009-10-27
Nigerian diaspora Ethnic and national groups in the Netherlands Africans Americans Antilleans · SurinameseAsians Arab Dutch · Armenians · Afghans · Assyrians/Chaldeans/Syriacs · Chinese · Filipinos · Hindoestanen · Indonesians (Indo Eurasians) · Iraqis · Iranians · Japanese · Koreans · Pakistanis · Turkish · VietnameseEuropeans Bold denotes ethnic groups that (partly) originate from within contemporary and historic parts of the Netherlands Categories: Dutch people of Nigerian descent | Ethnic groups in the Netherlands | Nigerian diaspora | Nigerian expatriates in the Netherlands
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