AWG93x6:AWG.9 6/14/07 1:11 PM Page 168 Claiming the “Moroccan-Dutch”: Dual Nationality and Interacting Citizenship Regimes Inge van der Welle Amsterdam Institute of Metropolitan and International Development Studies (AMIDSt), Universiteit van Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/9/3/168/1449674/arwg_9_3_34p2637481780885.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 In today’s globalizing world, national citizenship pédition ». Le débat expose les tensions qui regimes no longer exist in isolation but are inter- surviennent lors d’une conceptualisation exclu- acting more and more. People are increasingly sive de la citoyenneté dans un contexte de sécuri- connected across nation-state borders, and a sation et d’intégration d’une part et de la substantial and growing number of the inhabi- continuation d’une politique de contrôle de la tants of European states hold dual nationality. citoyenneté extra-territoriale des générations As a result, people are more likely to experience diasporiques futures, de l’autre. conflicting or competing national citizenship regimes. This article investigates the interacting Mots-clés : double nationalité, citoyenneté, citizenship regimes that confront the Moroccan- Maroc, Pays-Bas Dutch. These citizenship regimes are looked at from a migration perspective, with a focus on the interaction between the Netherlands as “receiving Introduction country” and Morocco as the “sending country.” The discussion illustrates the tensions arising In June 2005, the Dutch minister of immigra- from an exclusionist conceptualization of citizen- tion and integration, Rita Verdonk, visited ship in a context of securitization and integration Morocco at the invitation of Nouzha and a continuation of diaspora engagement poli- Chekrouni, the Moroccan minister responsi- cies and extraterritorial citizenship over genera- ble for Moroccans residing abroad (les tions. Marocains résidant à l’étranger, or MREs). The Dutch minister wanted Morocco to Key words: dual nationality, citizenship, reconsider the issue of inalienable Moroccan Morocco, Netherlands nationality, which results in MREs acquiring Moroccan nationality automatically at birth. Dans le monde de la globalisation actuelle, les She argued that “If Moroccans of the third régimes nationaux pourvoyeurs de citoyenneté generation choose [single Dutch] nationality, n’existent plus isolément, mais sont en conti- a closer bond arises with [Dutch] society, and nuelle interaction. Les populations sont de plus they will integrate better” (Van der Laan en relation au-delà des frontières des États- 2005).1 For Morocco, this was not an item nations et un nombre important et croissant d’ha- open for negotiation. Moroccan nationality is bitants des États européens possèdent une double available to all emigrants and their descen- nationalité. En conséquence, des personnes dants over generations, without limitation. seront confrontées à des régimes nationaux Besides, Moroccan nationality also reflects a concurrents ou conflictuels. Cet article examine religious bond with Morocco’s king as the l’interaction des régimes de citoyenneté confron- commander of the faithful. The Moroccan tés par les Néerlando-Marocains. Ces régimes newspaper Le Matin, considered to be a sont observés d’un point de vue migratoire, foca- mouthpiece of the Moroccan king, com- lisant sur l’interaction entre les Pays-Bas le mented on Ms Verdonk’s visit and quoted a « pays de réception » et le Maroc, le « pays d’ex- representative of the Moroccan Ministry of The Arab World Geographer/Le Géographe du monde arabe Vol 9, No 3 (2006) 168–187 © 2006 by AWG – The Arab World Geographer, Toronto, Canada AWG93x6:AWG.9 6/14/07 1:11 PM Page 169 Claiming the “Moroccan-Dutch”: Dual Nationality and Interacting Citizenship Regime 169 Justice as stating that “Le Maroc ne peut et ne and where several Moroccan intellectuals pourra jamais retirer la nationalité marocaine found shelter and could easily engage in à quelqu’un qui en a hérité par son père ou son French public debate (Obdeijn and De Mas grand-père … il s’agit d’une question de 2001, 17). Such an appealing Moroccan intel- souveraineté non négociable [Morocco ligentsia was lacking in the Netherlands. The cannot, and can never, take away Moroccan few political refugees who did engage in nationality from someone who has inherited it public debate in the Netherlands lacked from his father or grandfather … this is a fluency in Dutch, and, because of their urban- question of sovereignty, and is non-nego- Arabic background and their harsh opposi- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/9/3/168/1449674/arwg_9_3_34p2637481780885.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 tiable]” (“Immigrants marocains” 2005) tion to the Moroccan regime (Obdeijn and De Thus, as far as Morocco was concerned, Mas 2001, 17) their ability to act as pioneers Moroccan nationality for MREs is considered for the Moroccan community was limited. A a matter of sovereignty, and therefore not lack of appealing leadership still appears to open to question. be the case nowadays. In addition, many The Moroccan community is the third scholars have noted a lack of social cohesion largest ethnic minority group in the Nether- within the Moroccan community; in the lands, after the Surinamese and Turkish Turkish community, by contrast, mosques and communities. About 300 000 people are organizations lead to strong bonding counted as belonging to the Moroccan (Obdeijn and De Mas 2001). community, whose numbers are the result of Currently, almost 70 % of Moroccans2 in labour migration in the 1960s, family reunifi- the Netherlands hold dual—that is, Dutch and cation in the 1970s and 1980s, and family Moroccan—nationality. About 30 % have formation in the 1990s and 2000s. This Moroccan nationality only, generally community can no longer be considered a combined with permanent-resident status in migrant community, since a large and grow- the Netherlands. Only a little over 1 % have ing share of it—around 50 % in 2005 Dutch nationality only (Municipality of (Statistics Netherlands 2005)—was born and Amsterdam 2005). Therefore, most has been raised in the Netherlands. The Moroccans living in the Netherlands are Moroccan community is mainly concentrated subject to two citizenship regimes, as dual in urban areas, especially in Amsterdam, nationals or as Moroccan nationals with where it constitutes about 9 % of the total extensive citizenship rights in the population. Netherlands. Dual nationality and, in more Most members of the Moroccan commu- general terms, “strong homeland connec- nity in the Netherlands originated from the tions” have increasingly featured as a prob- Northern Rif, because of one-sided recruit- lem in the Dutch public debate on the ment on the part of the Dutch. The Moroccan integration of immigrants and their descen- government allowed recruitment of labour dents, and the Moroccan community in from this area largely because of the social particular. At the same time, the Moroccan and political turmoil there (Bouddouft 2001; state has tried to maintain ties with its over- Obdeijn and De Mas 2001). The population of seas nationals by means of active extraterrito- the Northern Rif was regarded as suspicious rial engagement policies. The Moroccan- and sceptical toward the Moroccan authori- Dutch are therefore subject to claims from ties. two states, and these claims can be conflicting Moroccan migration toward the and competing. Netherlands has consisted primarily of This article investigates the interacting unskilled labourers, as distinct from, for citizenship regimes of Morocco and the example, France where many Moroccans Netherlands and what their interaction means stayed after studying at French universities for people confronted by these regimes. The The Arab World Geographer/Le Géographe du monde arabe 9, no 3 (2006) AWG93x6:AWG.9 6/14/07 1:11 PM Page 170 170 Inge van der Welle article begins by outlining the theoretical dynamic concept. Since Marshall’s seminal background through a discussion of the work, other aspects have been added to the concepts of citizenship and citizenship Marshallian domains of citizenship. Cultural regimes. Its second part explains the context (group) rights have been included as a citizen- of changes in the conceptualization of citi- ship domain, as these have been considered zenship by exploring the Dutch and crucial for the definition of “state member- Moroccan public spheres. The third part ship” (Delanty 2000; Wilkinson and Hébert demonstrates competing or even conflicting 2003). claims faced by the Moroccan-Dutch, provid- Citizenship is both a means of exclusion Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/9/3/168/1449674/arwg_9_3_34p2637481780885.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 ing examples within different domains of citi- and and a means of inclusion. It can be inclu- zenship regimes. The concluding section sive because it provides the same rights for all discusses the interactions between the two citizens; at the same time, it is exclusive by citizenship regimes and assesses the extent to defining who is a citizen and who is not. which they conflict in the everyday life of the Besides, it is not culturally neutral: processes Moroccan-Dutch. such as xenophobia and identity politics often constrain opportunities for the combination Competing vs. Interacting Citizenship of cultural hybridity and political citizenship. Regimes Multiple citizenship