> Research & Reports Human Cargo Human smuggling organizations are currently held responsible for the transport of Today, would we view the above cases Report > refugees, bounty hunters, and other migrants to the West. The Dutch Public Prosecutor’s as the result of criminal human smug- China Office works on the assumption that the movement of asylum seekers to the Netherlands is gling organizations? The answer is to a large extent ‘regulated’ by the activities of human smugglers. Although the probably ‘yes’. My doctoral research nationalities of both the smugglers and the people transported vary greatly, as do the aims to clarify the structures underly- methods used, it is generally assumed by both the public and criminologists that the ing human smuggling. When should

Chinese descendants in a Dutch a in descendants Chinese pursuit of profit is an important, and probably the most important, motive for human one view ‘a little bit of help from your smuggling organizations. A turnover of billions of euros worldwide is attributed to these friends’ as smuggling? That leads me organizations. to the question of what ‘smuggling’ or ‘illegal migration’ really is, and whether By Melvin Soudijn not a recent phenomenon. In his study port. Several pedlars from Zhejiang, for everything is as closely organized as is Chineesche immigranten in Nederland instance, had indeed entered the generally supposed. The inclusion of a ithin the spectrum of human (Chinese Immigrants in the Nether- Netherlands with valid passports, but historical perspective might provide us

he connection between participation in Chinese volun- Chinese in participation between connection he Wsmuggling, the smuggling of lands), published in 1936, F. van Heek ones to which they were not actually with a better understanding. < Chinese nationals provokes a lot of notes that various countries have drawn entitled. ‘In Europe, too, the Chinese nts. Peter Post screened amateur films from the 1930s pro- 1930s the from films amateur screened Post Peter nts. a, and South Africa. South and a, ive of the IIAS, and Asian Studies in Amsterdam (ASiA), at the at (ASiA), Amsterdam in Studies Asian and IIAS, the of ive interest, not only among the media, but up immigration laws to halt Chinese happily make use of such consular References field of study covers any aspect of social life among the Chinese the among life social of aspect any covers study of field also in the world of international inves- migration. As a result, attempts were benevolence. They let one another - Heek, F. van, Chineesche immigranten in tigation. There are various possible rea- made (and this is still the case today) to know where an “easy” consul is sta- Nederland, Amsterdam: J. Emmering’s sons for this. In the first place, a series circumvent these immigration laws, tioned, and send their friends who live Uitgevers (1936). of well-publicized incidents have and human smuggling thrived. Van in the country in question to the con- - Sciortino, R.M.E., A. Wessels and H.B. caused the commotion. There is virtu- Heek would not state exactly how many sulate to apply for a visa. The consulate Teng, Chinese ouderen in Amsterdam: ver- ally no study, investigation or publica- people came into the Netherlands as sometimes neglects carefully compar- slag van een onderzoek naar de leefsituatie tion concerning human smuggling stowaways, but he suspected that the ing the passport-photo with the appli- van Chinese ouderen in Amsterdam, from China which does not refer to the numbers were very large. Rotterdam, cant’s face, and the visa is issued. The Amsterdam: Stichting voor Toegepaste Golden Venture incident of 1993 ‘as an important shipping centre […], applicant sends it back to his friend Gerontologie/Vrije Universiteit Amster- and/or the Dover tragedy of 2000, two and with its hundreds of Chinese who wishes to travel to the Netherlands, dam (1993). extremely dramatic events involving inhabitants [would constitute] an ideal and soon afterwards our yellow broth- Chinese victims. Furthermore, human temporary refuge from which the Chi- er enters our country in a completely Melvin Soudijn, MA conducts his research smuggling from China, whether right- nese emigrant could try to reach the legal way’ (p. 90) (translation: MS). at the NSCR (Netherlands Institute for the ly or wrongly, is generally believed to place where he now wishes to live’ (p. In their research report Chinese oud- Study of Crime and Law Enforcement) in present several unique characteristics. 82) (translation: MS). eren in Amsterdam: verslag van een onder- Leiden. The sums of money involved are high- Van Heek also discusses the ways in zoek naar de leefsituatie van Chinese oud- [email protected] er than those paid by any other nation- which these people enter the Nether- eren in Amsterdam (Elderly Chinese ality, abuses, such as slavery, exploita- lands. They may enter with a valid pass- people in Amsterdam: research report tion, and prostitution is rife, the level port, by ship’s discharge, as a stowaway, on the living conditions of elderly Chi- of organization is extremely high and as a deserter from a ship, or clandes- nese people in Amsterdam), Sciortino there (presumably) is associated crime tinely over a land border. The method et al. discuss the case of a Chinese man, involved (directed by Triads). Finally, in of stowing away was not, however, 83 years old in 1993, who recalls how the West there seems to be a fascination wholly without its dangers. For exam- he was persuaded by a former neigh- for, and simultaneously a fear of, the ple, people hid in empty water-tanks or bour to come to Europe in 1936 (p. 12). exotic. To this one could add the enor- boilers, where the temperature could He had to pay what was then the enor- mity of China’s population, presenting soar if the ship was sailing in the trop- mous sum of 300 Chinese guilders for a huge potential market for smuggling, ics. This sometimes led to fatalities the journey. He eventually set out with and the many references in publica- (p. 82). four others from his village. His wife [email protected]

, elite Chinese families in the Dutch East-Indies, thereby putting forward a fascinating new way of looking at the position of position the at looking of way new fascinating a forward putting thereby East-Indies, Dutch the in families Chinese elite , tions on Chinese communities to a ‘cul- Furthermore, Van Heek notes that in and young son remained behind. He ture of secrecy’. All this leads to the the past, staff from the Dutch con- travelled to Marseilles on a German impression that the authorities cannot sulates sometimes issued visas too eas- cargo ship and secretly went ashore.

peranakan seem to get a grip on the community. ily, without ascertaining whether the From there he travelled overland to Ger-

Dr Leo Douw, Douw, Leo Dr Human smuggling from China is traveller had sufficient means of sup- many and then to the Netherlands. < Malay Contacts with Sri Lanka duced by members of members by duced The Research Network for the Study of Chinese Communities in the Netherlands (RSCCN) was established in 2001 as a joint initiat joint a as 2001 in established was (RSCCN) Netherlands the in Communities Chinese of Study the for Network Research The Indonesi Suriname, Belgium, as such countries in Chinese Dutch-speaking of study the as well as Netherlands, the in communities t on Suurmond Judith by and Soudijn, Melvin by trafficking human on lectures were there meeting annual third RSCCN’s the During descenda Chinese of integration socio-political and community civic a of formation the and Netherlands the in associations tary University of Amsterdam. This informal research network aims to bring researchers together, facilitating their cooperation. The cooperation. their facilitating together, researchers bring to aims network research informal This Amsterdam. of University colonial setting. colonial The have always been intrepid sailors, travelling westwards as far as Madagascar. Sailing westward from a port in the Research > Peninsula or from Western Sumatra, one was likely to disembark on the eastern and southern coasts of South Asia (Paranavitana, 1959): it is therefore not surprising that the Malays made contact with Sri Lankans. Evidence of early contact between Sri Lankans and Malays lies in Sinhala literary works from the Period (1098-1234) and the Dambadeniya The Research Network for the Study of Chinese Communities in the Netherlands the in Communities Chinese of Study the for Network Research The 14 March 2003 March 14 Amsterdam, Netherlands the Period (1220-1293).

By Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya British referred to the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands. Java, Madura, Buginese, and Malay as ‘Malays’ as they spoke Batavian Malay, From 1708 onwards, Javanese princes areas. Most Malay slaves sent to Sri istorical evidence also confirms known today as Betawi or Jakarta Malay. were exiled to Sri Lanka. According to Lanka originated from the Moluccas [advertisement] Hthat there was a Malay presence The British also transported Indone- Dutch documents, these Indonesian and the Lesser Sunda Islands. in Sri Lanka in the thirteenth century. sians from the Malay Peninsula aristocrats were mainly from Java, but During the Dutch period and in the In 1247, , the Buddhist (Penang, Malacca, Singapore, Pahang, others came from Bacan, Sumatra, early British period, the Malays formed Malay King in the Malay Peninsula, Trengganu, Kelantan), Java, Madura, Macassar, Tidore, and Timor. The most of the Sri Lankan army, enlisted in attempted to invade Sri Lanka. Sinhala and North Borneo to Sri Lanka. The Dutch also exiled the King of Java, the Ceylon Rifle regiments. The last reg- literary works record that Chandrab- Indonesian soldiers in Sri Lanka were Susana Mangkurat Mas, to Sri Lanka, iment was disbanded in 1873 and the hanu’s mission was supported by Malay recruited from Jakarta in Java and there- together with his retinue: in 1723, he Malay soldiers joined the Police force. (Javaka or Malala) soldiers. He was fore had a common ‘geographical iden- was followed by 44 Javanese princes Malays were, thereafter, employed in the determined to possess the Buddha’s tity’. Though ethnic groups from vari- and noblemen who had surrendered at Sri Lankan military, police, fire brigade, tooth relics, which were sacrosanct to ous parts of the Indonesian Archipelago the battle of Batavia. At the other end of prisons, plantation sector, and in the Sinhalese, and which were in the lived in distinct parts of Jakarta, they the social spectrum, there was a steady salterns. Sri Lankan Malays have blend- possession of the Sinhalese monarch. spoke a common lingua franca, either influx of Indonesian convicts, who ed into multi-ethnic Sri Lanka but have In contemporary Sri Lanka, there are Batavian Malay (Omong Jakarta, a cre- came from all walks of life. However, retained their ‘Malay’ ethnic conscious- about 46,000 Sri Lankan Malays. They ole) or Low Malay/Trade Malay/Bazaar no specific information is known about ness, their mother tongue, Sri Lankan form 0.31 per cent of the population. Malay (a pidgin). The Sinhalese have their ethnic background. The Dutch Malay Creole, uniting, binding, and Their ancestry can be traced back to the given the appellation Jaminissu (people also brought Javanese men to be defining them. Sri Lankan Malay Creole Dutch Era (1656–1796) and the British from Java) to all Sri Lankan Malays, employed in several capacities in Sri is a contact language. When people who Era (1796-1948). The Dutch referred to regardless of whether they are from Lanka, but the largest group of Indone- do not speak a common language come the Sri Lankan Malays as ‘Javanese’ Indonesian or Malay descent. sians were the soldiers who served in into prolonged contact with one anoth- because they were recruited in Batavia Some of the earliest Malay political the Dutch garrison in Sri Lanka. They er, a verbal means of communication (the Dutch appellation for Jakarta). The exiles came to Sri Lanka from the came from the Ambon, Banda, Bali, becomes necessary, and contact lan-

28 IIAS Newsletter | #31 | July 2003 > Research & Reports The Illicit Trade in Chinese Antiquities Judging by reports in the Chinese media and by remarks in general studies on the illicit antiquities trade, there is large-scale looting Furthermore, the policies of the Chinese government are of and trafficking in antiquities taking place in China. According to He Shuzhong, the director of Cultural Heritage Watch (CHW), a weakened by the ineffective registration of cultural heritage. non-governmental Chinese organization for the protection of cultural heritage, the problems of illicit excavation and trade have The fact that the government lacks a database on stolen art reached dramatic proportions. Government sources suggest that, in the past, the bulk of illicit antiquities resurfaced in foreign and antiquities inhibits an effective policy against illicit trade museums, while these days much of it ends up in foreign markets. According to Chinese experts, there are at least one million items and can lead to awkward situations. In the Miho Case, Cul- of Chinese art that should be returned from 200 foreign museums spanning 47 countries. Yet, most Western museums are unwilling tural Heritage Watch and the Chinese authorities argued that to return their collections. A major reason being the idea that most acquisitions were legal at the time they were made, for example the Miho should return the statue and should have been under colonial rule. Nonetheless, China has experienced some success in reclaiming stolen artefacts. informed of it being stolen because it belonged to a Chinese museum and was published as such. However, the fact that By Melvin Soudijn & Edgar Tijhuis looting and smuggling of antiquities is categorized as organ- the theft was not properly registered seemed to escape both Research > ized crime and cross-border crime in the Chinese Penal Code. their attention. The lack of effective registration also hinders China n March 2000, CHW raised the issue of a stolen statue of Furthermore, specific articles were drafted to cover the all fruitful cooperation with international agencies like Inter- Ia Bodhisattva in the collection of the Miho Museum in destruction of antiquities and the theft of precious cultural pol and the International Council of Museums (ICOM), ren- Japan. The statue was stolen from a museum in Boxing coun- relics. Severe sentences can be given to those committing dering the aforementioned treaties inapplicable (see note). ty, Shandong Province, in July 1994. In 1996, the Miho such crimes: reports of local excavators receiving the death With ineffective registration, the real scale of the problem Museum bought the statue from a London dealer, who penalty can be found in the media. National legislation aside, can hardly be reliably represented by statistics on the num- claimed to have bought the item from another dealer in good China is a signatory to several international treaties on the ber of items intercepted by Chinese customs officials. Any faith. After more than a year, an agreement on the return of protection of cultural heritage.* However, both national laws attempt to quantify the problem of illicit excavations and trade the statue was signed between the Chinese National Admin- and treaties are ineffective if they are not adequately enforced. by looking up statistics and figures from a number of differ- istration on Cultural Heritage and the Miho Museum. In China does not seem to act against the liberal regulations ent sources only reveals how incomplete they are: records 2001 the National Gallery of Canada voluntarily returned to governing the Hong Kong art trade. Hong Kong plays a piv- only exist for 1986, 1991–1995, 1997, the first five months China a stolen 1,300 year old Buddhist limestone carving, otal role: almost all antiquities pass through the Hong Kong of 1998, and the period from 1999 to September 2001. Addi- which had been surreptitiously chiselled from the wall of a market and once antiquities reach Hong Kong, they can be tionally, the numbers cannot be compared because they temple cave some time during the last century. The object freely exported (as long as they are not stolen). measure different things and usually only refer to tourists. was only known in China from a picture of the temple taken Over and above Hong Kong’s highly significant role in the For example, according to figures from Chinese customs, at the beginning of the twentieth century. licit and illicit trade in Chinese antiquities, auctioning with- 110,000 items were seized, from tourists, between 1991 and As well as foreign museums, the international arts mar- in China must also be considered. During the 1990s more 1995 alone. ket is also implicated. Apparently, there is a large market for than 150 auction houses were established in China. Although Although much can be said about China’s shortcomings Chinese antiquities, the most notable in Hong Kong, Lon- turnover is still modest compared to Hong Kong, this is like- with regard to its anti-trafficking of antiquities policy, there don, and New York. Some antiquities dealers purport to han- ly to change in the future. The two largest auction houses are are other factors to consider. Wherever people are prepared dle only ‘old’ items, that is, items that come from existing col- China Guardian and Beijing Hanhai. China Guardian was to sell (even if this means the Chinese government itself), lections and are supposed to have been outside China since set up as a joint venture between the Ministry of Internal there are those prepared to buy. Many independent buyers pre-1970. However, these assertions seem to be at odds with Trade and the Bureau of Cultural Relics, Beijing Hanhai is are individual travellers interested in Asia and the like, in the continuous appearance of dubious items on the art mar- owned by the city’s municipal government. A wide range of contrast to large retailers or auction houses, most likely to ket. In addition, there are plenty of smaller markets in items is sold at these and other auctions, including items purchase small items. Of course, one also needs to consider numerous countries, Asian and Western. Nowadays, illicit more than 200 years old, which may not, officially, be export- the quality of the items they acquire. All the experts we spoke excavations meet most of this large-scale demand, resulting ed. Thus, according to this rule foreigners are not allowed to to highlighted the fact that most material coming from China in the irreversible destruction of valuable archaeological buy older items, but it can hardly be expected that this alone seems to be of sub-masterpiece quality, apart from a huge information and pointless damage to sites. will be a serious barrier to their export. number of fakes. Nevertheless, many among the IIAS Although the Chinese government formally takes a seri- There is also the problem of corruption. Though corrup- Newsletter readers will have some sort of Chinese artefact at ous stance on combating illegal excavation and export of Chi- tion is a universal phenomenon, its sheer scale and perva- home. Call it an argument from a Chinese perspective. It nese antiquities, many questions can be asked about the sin- siveness in China is a matter of concern. Large-scale cam- does not make it any less valid.< cerity and efficiency of their policies. Since 1978 numerous paigns against corruption may have been initiated, yet it legislative measures have been taken to tackle the problem. would be rather optimistic to expect these to solve the prob- For more information, also see: The Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage was adopted lem shortly. Furthermore, central government directives have www.culturalheritagewatch.org/indexenglish.html in 1982 and twice amended in 1988 and 1991. Nowadays, to be carried out by the provincial, down to the local govern- ments, thus easily leading to further corruption. At the local Melvin Soudijn, MA is a PhD student at the Netherlands Institute Note > level, administrators often turn a blind eye if money can be for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement in Leiden, the Nether- made through selling cultural objects. On the other hand, lands. His research topics include crime in the Chinese community, * China is a party to the ‘Convention concerning the Protection of the World simple neglect of ancient sites and the destruction of sites human smuggling (see his article on page 28) and the illicit trade in Cultural and Natural Heritage’, the ‘Convention on the Means of Prohibiting due to large real estate projects, agricultural development, art and antiquities. and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural and infrastructure projects pose a threat. The Three Gorges [email protected] Property’, ‘UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Dam project, for example, is likely to inundate a large num- Edgar Tijhuis, MA is a PhD student at the same institute, research- Objects’, and ‘Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of ber of antiquities. Brave attempts to save material from indi- ing transnational crime, the illicit trade in art and antiquities, and Armed Conflict’. In addition, a total of 1,480 museums have been established vidual sites concern only a small part of the total area. Mean- international relations. This summer Soudijn and Tijhuis will pub- at national and provincial level. Furthermore, China is working on a bilateral while smugglers have found it easy to negotiate with local lish an account of their study of the illicit antiquities trade in Hong anti-smuggling agreement with the US, to halt the flow of antiquities to the US. officials, and large amounts of material from the upper Kong and China in ‘Art Antiquity and Law’. Yangtze have found their way overseas. [email protected]

guages (pidgins and creoles) evolve to played by Sinhala (the language of 74 Sri Lankan Malay Creole Constructions fill this need. A creole, unlike a pidgin, per cent of Sri Lankans today) in influ- is the mother tongue of a speech com- encing Sri Lankan Malay Creole is a Saldin (1996) states that some SLMC constructions are amusing to Indonesians and . I have added in the Sinhala (SIN) munity. Most of the vocabulary of Sri fruitful avenue for further research. < equivalents of these sentences: Lankan Malay Creole originates in the base language, Malay, as is typical of Bibliography SLMC Se buk baca baca kapan duduk seppe temanya datang contact languages. - De Silva Jayasuriya, S., ‘Portuguese in Sri SIN Mama pothak bala bala inna-kote mage yahaluva av- a Many linguistic constructions (see Lanka: Influence of Substratum Lan- I book read read when sit when my friend come TNS examples in the sidebar) illustrate Sin- guages’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Soci- Literally: While I was reading the book and sitting my friend came! hala influence on Sri Lankan Malay ety of London of Great Britain & Ireland, Meaning: While I was reading the book my friend came Creole. With Sinhala as the language vol.9 Pt 2, July 1999. pp. 251–270. for inter-ethnic communication in - Paranavitana, S., ‘Ceylon and in In Standard Malay it would be: multi-ethnic Sri Lanka, bilingualism Mediaeval Times’, Journal of the Royal Asi- Kawan saya datang se masa saya membaca buku among the Sri Lankan Malays must atic Society of the Ceylon Branch (Vol. VII, Friend I come while I read book have introduced Sinhala grammatical Part I, 1959), pp. 1–42. features into Sri Lankan Malay Creole. - Saldin, B.D.K., The Sri Lankan Malays and their SLMC Se lari lari kapan duduk ujang su datang Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, the Por- Language, Orang Melayu dan Bahasanya, Sri SIN Mama duwa duwa inna-kote vessa av- a tuguese-based contact language, has Lanka: Sridevi Printers, (1996). I run run when sit when rain TNS come TNS also been influenced by Sinhala (De Literally: While I was running and sitting the rain came down! Silva Jayasuriya, 1999). Malay, in all its Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya is a research Meaning: While I was running it rained. diverse forms, is the most important associate at King’s College London, Univer- native language of Southeast Asia. sity of London, whose research interest lies In Standard Malay it would be: Malay in Sri Lanka is distinct from all in social anthropology. Se masa saya berlari kujan turun the other Malay languages. The part [email protected] While I run rain come down

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