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‘The good old days of the Cold War’: arguments used to admit or reject asylum seekers in the Netherlands, 1957–1967

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2011

TYCHO WALAARDT
TYCHO WALAARDT
Affiliation:
History Department, Leiden University.
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Abstract

This article examines the arguments used in the Netherlands to admit or exclude asylum seekers during the Cold War era. There is consensus that gaining asylum in the 1960s was not that difficult – especially when compared with current practices – because Cold War migrants were ‘the enemies of our enemy’. By analysing 36 detailed individual case files, this article questions the oft-sung mantra of an unproblematic asylum procedure for these ‘anti-communists’ in the Netherlands. We will see that the restrictive Dutch authorities frequently changed their anti-asylum decisions as a result of interventions from the outside. Outsiders' pleas, underpinned by a variety of arguments, often resulted in admission, but rarely in the attainment of refugee status.

«le bon vieux temps de la guerre froide»: les arguments avancés pour admettre ou rejeter les demandeurs d'asile aux pays-bas, 1957–1967

Cet article examine les arguments mis en avant aux Pays-Bas pour admettre ou rejeter les demandes d'asile pendant la guerre froide. Surtout si l'on compare avec les pratiques actuelles, tout le monde en convient, obtenir l'asile dans les années 1960 n'était pas si difficile, parce que les migrants de la Guerre Froide étaient «les ennemis de nos ennemis». Partant de l'analyse de trente-six dossiers individuels détaillés, cet article remet en question la rengaine convenue d'une procédure d'asile qui ne posait pas de problème pour ces «anticommunistes» aux Pays-Bas. Nous montrerons que les autorités néerlandaises pouvaient certes modifier leurs décisions négatives à l'égard de l'asile à la suite d'interventions de l'extérieur, mais la pression des outsiders qui appuyaient leurs suppliques sur toute une série d'arguments, si elle aboutissait souvent à une admission, ne permettait que très rarement au demandeur d'obtenir le statut de réfugié.

„die guten alten tage des kalten krieges“. welche argumente in den niederlanden zwischen 1957 und 1967 benutzt wurden, um asylsuchende aufzunehmen oder abzuweisen

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Argumente, die in den Niederlanden in der Ära des Kalten Krieges benutzt wurden, um Asylsuchende aufzunehmen oder abzuweisen. Es besteht Einigkeit darüber, dass es in den 1960er Jahren – insbesondere im Vergleich zur gegenwärtigen Praxis – nicht besonders schwierig war, Asyl zu bekommen, weil Kalte-Kriegs-Migranten „die Feinde unseres Feindes“ waren. Auf Grund einer Analyse der ausführlichen Akten von 36 Einzelfällen stellt dieser Beitrag jedoch das vielgesungene Mantra in Frage, diese „Antikommunisten“ hätten in den Niederlanden ein unproblematisches Asylverfahren gehabt. Es zeigt sich vielmehr, dass die restriktiven niederländischen Behörden ihre Entscheidungen gegen die Asylvergabe oft nur nach Interventionen von außen änderten. Die Plädoyers Außenstehender, unterstützt durch eine Vielzahl von Argumenten, führten zwar häufig zu einer Aufnahme als Asylant, aber nur selten zur Erlangung des Flüchtlingsstatus.

Type
Research Article
Information
Continuity and Change , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 271 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

ENDNOTES

1 The National Archive (hereafter NA), The Netherlands, Archive of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereafter FA), inventory number 1955–1964, 8363, Remarks of the secretary general (hereafter SG) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a memo by the head of the Aliens Committee and Border Protection (hereafter AC & BP), reference 3868 (24 Sep. 1958).

2 A. R. Zolberg, A nation by design. Immigration policy in the fashioning of America (New York, 2006), 18.

3 See among others, M. Mattheijer, De toelating van vluchtelingen in Nederland en hun integratie op de arbeidsmarkt (Amsterdam, 2000), 9; D. van Dijck, Het asielbeleid van de Europese Unie: een veiligheidskwestie? Een discoursanalytische studie naar de constructie van een gemeenschappelijke asielprocedure in Europa (Antwerp, 2005), 5; D. Bronkhorst, Een tijd van komen. De geschiedenis van vluchtelingen in Nederland (Utrecht, 1990), 20 and 22; Fassmann, H. and Münz, R., ‘European East–West migration, 1945–1992’, International Migration Review 28, 3 (1994), 520–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 527; Boswell, C., ‘European values and the asylum crisis’, International Affairs 76, 3 (2000), 537–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 550.

4 Hanhimäki, J. M., ‘Introduction. UNHCR and the global Cold War’, Refugee Survey Quarterly 27, 1 (2008), 3–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 4.

5 R. Fernhout, Erkenning en toelating als vluchteling in Nederland (Deventer, 1990), 3; but also see M. J. Gibney, The ethics and politics of asylum. Liberal democracy and the response to refugees (Cambridge, 2004), 3.

6 Fassmann and Münz, ‘European East–West migration, 1945–1992’, 527.

7 Keely, C. B., ‘The international Cold War regime(s): the end of the Cold War matters’, International Migration Review 35, 1 (2001), 303–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 307–8.

8 Rose, P. I., ‘Tempest-Tost: exile, ethnicity, and the politics of rescue’, Sociological Forum 8, 1 (1993), 5–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 16.

9 Wihtol de Wenden, C., ‘The French response to the asylum seeker influx, 1980–93’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 534 (1994), 81–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 84.

10 E. F. Kunz showed that different ‘vintages’ of asylum seekers shared common characteristics. Kunz, E. F., ‘The refugee in flight: kinetic models and forms of displacement’, International Migration Review 7, 2 (1973), 125–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 137.

11 Pupavac, V., ‘Refugee advocacy, traumatic representations and political disenchantment’, Government and Opposition 43, 2 (2008), 270–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 273.

12 M. Hollands, Leren uit de ontmoeting. Nederlanders in contact met asielzoekers en vluchtelingen (Amsterdam, 2006), 147.

13 S. van der Werf, Allochtonen in de multiculturele samenleving. Een inleiding (Bussum, 2002), 208.

14 Mertus, J., ‘The state and the post-Cold War refugee regime: new models, new questions’, International Journal of Refugee Law 10, 3 (1998), 321–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 336–7.

15 Mertus, ‘The state and the post-Cold War refugee regime’, 321–48; Binder, S. and Tošiæ, J., ‘Refugees as a particular form of transnational migrations and social transformations: socio-anthropological and gender aspects. Migration and flight as a research field within globalization studies’, Current Sociology 53, 4 (2005), 607–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 613; Kneebone, S., ‘Women within the refugee construct: “exclusionary inclusion” in policy and practice – the Australian experience’, International Journal of Refugee Law 17, 1 (2005), 7–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 9; P. Mascini and M. van Bochove, , ‘Gender en asiel. “Zelfstandige” mannen en “afhankelijke” vrouwen’, Sociologie 3, 1 (2007), 111–30Google Scholar, here 112–13.

16 Keely, ‘The international Cold War regime(s)’, 306.

17 There is some literature available about the way the Hungarians were selected in the refugee camps. See J. W. ten Doesschate, ‘Het Nederlandse toelatingsbeleid ten aanzien van Hongaarse vluchtelingen (1956–1957)’ (unpublished Masters thesis, Catholic University of Nijmegen, 1985); M. Bos, ‘Zuinige Opvang. Hongaarse vluchtelingen in Nederland’, Historisch Nieuwsblad (September 2006); J. Bosselaar, ‘Isten hozott benneteket Hollandiában! Een onderzoek naar de ervaringen van Hongaarse vluchtelingen die na de opstand van 1956 naar Nederland kwamen’ (unpublished Masters thesis, University of Groningen, 2007), 21; M. Bootsma, ‘Ongure elementen? Nederland en de Hongaarse vluchtelingen, 1956’, in B. de Graafff and C. Wiebes eds., Hun crisis was de onze niet. Internationale crises en binnenlandse veiligheid (Den Haag, 1994), 83–99.

18 According to the minister of justice, number 14 and number 19 on a list of Yugoslavian asylum seekers were ‘clearly adventurers’; FA, 1955–1964, 8363, Memo from the head of AC & BP, reference AJZ/E-316 (5 Dec. 1958).

19 H. Verwey-Jonker and P. O. M. Brackel, The assimilation and integration of pre- and post-war refugees in the Netherlands (Den Haag, 1957), 13.

20 For more details, see C. Berghuis, Geheel ontdaan van onbaatzuchtigheid: het Nederlandse toelatingsbeleid voor vluchtelingen en Displaced Persons van 1945 tot 1956 (Amsterdam, 1999), 32–41.

21 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 8455, Internal memo by an employee, Department of General Affairs, no reference (1957).

22 ‘De rechtsbescherming van de vreemdeling in ons land laat te wensen over’ [The legal protection of aliens leaves much to be desired], De Linie (4 Jan. 1958).

23 K. Salomon, Refugees in the Cold War. Towards a new international refugee regime in the early postwar era (Lund, 1991); Grahl-Madsen, A., ‘The special regime of refugees’, AWR-Bulletin 20–21 (1982–1983), 159–67Google Scholar, here 166–7; Karatani, R., ‘How history separated refugee and migrant regimes: in search of their institutional origins’, International Journal of Refugee Law 17, 3 (2005), 517–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 517.

24 K. Bem, Defining the refugee. American and Dutch asylum case-law 1975–2005 (Amsterdam, 2007), 8.

25 During this period there were five different ministers of justice. Three belonged to Christian parties, one was a Liberal and one belonged to the Social Democrats.

26 NA, Archive of the Dutch Naturalisation and Immigration Service and its predecessors (hereafter IND) 5.023.5027.862, Memo from the SG of the Ministry of Justice, reference nota 473 (14 Oct. 1957).

27 NA, IND 5.023.5027.1285, Memo from a civil servant of the Ministry of Justice after a request of the Luxembourgian Ministry of Justice, AJZ 2966/C-653 (11 Jan. 1961).

28 NA, IND 5.023.5027.3372, Memo from the head of department of AC & BP, AJZ 58/13612 (31 July 1958).

29 Rose, ‘Tempest-Tost’, 20.

30 Pupavac, ‘Refugee advocacy’, 285.

31 NA, IND 5.023.5027.407, Memo from the minister of justice, AJZ 1334/E-633 (20 July 1956).

32 A. H. J. Swart, De toelating en uitzetting van vreemdelingen (Deventer, 1978), 148–9.

33 L. Doornheim and N. Dijkhoff, Toevlucht zoeken in Nederland, Scientific Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Justice, 148 (Den Haag, 1995); M. Hulshof, L. de Ridder and P. Krooneman, Asielzoekers in Nederland (Amsterdam, 1992).

34 C. Berghuis and M. Schrover, ‘Persoonsdossiers in het archief van de Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst en haar Rechtsvoorgangers (1906–) 1945–1985 (–1999)’, in M. Schrover ed., Broncommentaren 5. Bronnen betreffende de registratie van vreemdelingen in Nederland in de negentiende en twintigste eeuw (Den Haag, 2002), 135–56.

35 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 12809, Table of accepted refugees in the years 1958 and 1959, 965 (28 Dec. 1959).

36 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 24371, Letter from the Department of General Affairs, 73925 (31 May 1956).

37 Bronkhorst, Een tijd van komen, 37.

38 P. J. van Krieken, Deserteurs, dienstweigeraars en asielrecht (Assen, 1976), 122–4.

39 NA, IND 5.023.5027.357, Table was made after questions were asked in Parliament on 29 Apr. 1964.

40 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 8363, Memo by the head of AC & BP, reference AJZ/E-316 (5 Dec. 1958).

41 Entman, R. M., ‘Framing: toward clarification of a fractured paradigm’, Journal of Communication 50 (2000), 95–6Google Scholar.

42 L. d'Haenens and M. de Lange, , ‘Framing of asylum seekers in Dutch regional newspapers’, Media, Culture and Society 23 (2001), 847–60Google Scholar; Lynn, N. and Lea, S., ‘“A phantom menace and the new apartheid”: the social construction of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom’, Discourse and Society 14 (2003), 425–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Semetko, H. A. and Valkenburg, P. M., ‘Framing European politics: a content analysis of press and television news’, Journal of Communication 50 (2000), 93–109CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Nickels, H. C., ‘Framing asylum discourse in Luxembourg’, Journal of Refugee Studies 20, 1 (2007), 37–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 NA, IND 5.023.5027.862, Political refugees: costs of housing and maintenance. Remarks of a civil servant of the Ministry of Justice on the list of inhabitants of the internment camp, 518/E-211 (1 Oct. 1957).

44 Gallagher, D., ‘The evolution of the international refugee system’, International Migration Review 23, 3 (1989), 579–98CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed, here 581–2.

45 The Dutch authorities actually subsidised emigration; see H. Obdeijn and M. Schrover, Komen en gaan. Immigratie en emigratie in Nederland vanaf 1550 (Amsterdam, 2008), 203 and 362.

46 NA, IND 5.023.5027.4075, Interview notes of secret service, 1513/61 (25 July 1961).

47 NA, IND 5.023.5028.8358, Memo by the SG of the Ministry of Justice, nota 226 (30 June 1964).

48 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4957, Telephone note by the head of AC & BP with the host of G. (10 July 1961), Remarks of the SG of the Ministry of Justice, 59/53430 (28 July 1961); Memo by the head of AC & BP after meeting the UNHCR, 59/53430 (17 Aug. 1961); Memo by the head of AC & BP, 59/53430 (18 Aug. 1961).

49 NA, IND 5.023.5028.8358; Note of aliens police of The Hague, 53935 F (10 June 1964); Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 59/154141 (29 June 1964); Memo from the head of AC & BP, 154141 (29 June 1964); Remarks of the minister of justice, nota 226 (30 June 1964).

50 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4406, Memo by the head of the sub-department of special residence permits, 58/13306 (2 Apr. 1959).

51 NA, IND 5.023.5027.3370, Interview notes of police of Heerlen (14 Oct. 1958); memo by the head of the sub-department of special residence permits (17 Oct. 1958).

52 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4478, Memo by the head of AC & BP, 158/1997 (9 Apr. 1958).

53 NA, IND 5.023.5027.117; Report of police of Amsterdam to head, 7884-7885/60 (9 Nov. 1960); Memo by the head of AC & BP, no reference (10 Nov. 1960); Interview notes of police of Amsterdam, 128 G 1960 (11 Nov. 1960); Memo by the head of police of Amsterdam, 7884/60 (15 Nov. 1960); Memo by the head of AC & BP, AJZ 1613/C 509 (16 Nov. 1960); Memo by the SG of the Ministry of Justice, nota 411 (22 Nov. 1960); Remarks of the minister of justice, nota 417 (26 Nov. 1960).

54 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4568, Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 59/4184 (28 Jan. 1960).

55 NA, IND 5.023.5027.280, Memo by the head of AC & BP, no reference (1957).

56 Keely, ‘The international Cold War regime(s)’, 308.

57 Their full names were often used. See, for example: VPRO Radio, ‘The affair Golub, reconstruction of a small event with large political implications during the Cold War’, available on www.geschiedenis.vpro.nl/attachment.db/4152354/verhaal.doc [viewed 8 February 2010].

58 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 7584, among others: ‘Outrageous behaviour of Dutch authorities toward Soviet Envoy and diplomats’, Soviet protest note to the Netherlands (Soviet News, Information Bulletin, Press Information Department, Embassy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic in Pakistan vol. 11, no. 76, 18 Nov. 1961); ‘Grave incident a Amsterdam. Dix Soviéts attaquent un commissariat Hollandais en enlèvent l’épouse d'un ingénieur Russe que a choisi la liberté' (Midi Libre Montpellier, 10 Oct. 1961); ‘Violento incidente con los Rusos Tuvieron Autoridades Holandesas’ (La Esfera, 13 Oct. 1961, newspaper from Venezuela); ‘Brave Hollanders’ (Editorial, Detroit News, 17 Oct. 1961); ‘Russians in airport clash over woman. Dutch may ask envoy to leave’ (Sydney Morning Herald, 11 Nov. 1961); ‘Russian in airport fist-fight’ (Tanganyika Standard, 12 Oct. 1961).

59 As a result, no Dutch ambassador served in the Soviet Union and no Soviet ambassador in the Netherlands for a year and a half afterward. FA, 1955–1964, 7582, aide memoir of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (12 Oct. 1964).

60 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 7582, Interview by news agency Visnews, 7386/61 (11 Oct. 1961).

61 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 7582, Memo from a civil servant of the Department of General Affairs from the Ministry of General Affairs, 88/61 (13 Oct. 1961).

62 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 7582, Letter from Mrs G. to the minister of foreign affairs (9 Oct. 1961), reply from the assistant secretary of state to Mrs G., DAZ 148134/499 (19 Oct. 1961).

63 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 7582, Memo from a civil servant of the Department of General Cases from the Ministry of General Affairs, 85/61 (10 Oct. 1961).

64 NA, Interview with Mrs G., see Novosti Press (28 Oct. 1961). This is an article from the Russian International News Agency (RIA Novositi) with no formal title.

65 VPRO Radio [Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep], De kwestie Golub: Een reconstructie van een klein incident met grote politieke gevolgen ten tijde van de koude oorlog [The Golub case: A reconstruction of a small incident with major political consequences during the time of the Cold War (written reproduction of a radio programme broadcast on 14 Oct. 2001)]. http://www.vpro.nl/attachment.db/verhaal.doc?4152354 [last accessed May 2011].

66 Bronkhorst, Een tijd van komen, 140–2; B. J. G. de Graaf, ‘Strijdig met de tradities van ons volk. Het Nederlands beleid ten aanzien van vluchtelingen in de jaren dertig’, in Jaarboek Buitenlandse Zaken, 1987/1988 (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, 1988), 169–87.

67 For example, ‘Gevlucht uit Joegoslavië. Man half bevroren in koelwagen gevonden’ [Escaped from Yugoslavia. Man half-frozen found in cold storage wagon], Leeuwarder Courant (17 Feb. 1960); ‘Het verschrikkelijke verhaal van de Kroaat Igrec’ [The horrifying story of the Croatian man Igrec], De Telegraaf (21 May 1960).

68 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4825, Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 59/22822 (24 Feb. 1960); Memo by the head of AC & BP, 59/22822 (16 Mar. 1960); Memo by the head of the sub-department of special residence permits, 59/22822 (22 June 1960).

69 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4953, Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 59/52548 (24 Aug. 1962); Memo by the SG of the Ministry of Justice, nota 311 (31 Aug. 1962); Memo by the SG of the Ministry of Justice, 59/52548 (3 Oct. 1962).

70 NA, IND 5.023.5027.13, Head of Visa Service to the Dutch ambassador in Hungary, AJZ 636/E – 269 (January 1958).

71 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 24359, Minutes of 10th Interdepartmental Committee on Refugee Issues. Remarks of chairman, chief of the Department of General Cases, F 2222/62 (9 Feb. 1962).

72 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4323, Memo by the head of AC & BP, 158/1341 (6 Feb. 1958).

73 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4583, Memo by the head of AC & BP, reference 59/6942 (13 Oct. 1959).

74 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4943, Remarks of the head of AC & BP on a memo by an employee of AC & BP, reference 59/51445 – A (05/04/1961).

75 NA, FA, 1955–1964, 8363, Memo from the head of AC & BP, reference AJZ/E-316 (5 Dec. 1958).

76 NA, IND 5.023.5027.384, Reply of the minister of justice to a letter of the Dutch Committee to Protect the Aims of Jewish refugees, AJHZ 1102/E-474 (21 Nov. 1958).

77 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4475, Memo by police of Amsterdam, 873/1959 (9 Feb. 59); Letter of Royal Prince Bernard, no reference (31 Jan. 1959); Remarks of the minister of justice on a memo by the head of AC & BP, 58/18977 (14 Feb. 1959).

78 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4752 (Z.), Report of secret service Utrecht, E/4–873/59 (16 Dec. 1959); Remarks of the minister of justice on a memo by the head of AC & BP, 58/18977 (14 Feb. 1959); NA, IND 5.023.5028.4813 (D.), Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 59/15997 (10 Apr. 1961); Remarks of the head of AC & BP and the SG on a memo by an employee of AC & BP, 59/15997 (10 Apr. 1961).

79 NA, IND 5.023.5028.4454, Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 58/16981 (1 Sep. 1958); Memo by an employee of AC & BP, 58/16981 (31 Dec. 1958).