It has taken a high-profile footballer who turned out not to be Dutch when he thought that he was to put practical impact of the ridiculous Dutch laws on dual nationality back in the spotlight – and this time on the front pages.
A group of footballers, born and brought up Dutchmen, who decided to go and play football for the country their mother or father came from, taking that nationality in the process, have discovered to their shock that they are no longer Dutch.
Their clubs too were totally unaware that they were fielding foreigners without work permits – the far right would call them illegal immigrants if they were picking onions rather than scoring goals.
In most cases, if a Dutch person takes a second nationality, whether it be to play football, to make it easier to live and work abroad, or to get the right to vote in the country they currently live in, they will lose their Dutch passports.
You then end up with bizarre situations such as the football internationals. Or what about the much heralded “Dutch” Nobel prize winner who was discovered not to be Dutch after all because he taken British nationality in order to qualify for an honour from the king.
They are, of course, not alone. As Eelco Keij put it in the AD last week, “this problem is a lot bigger and it impacts a lot more Dutch people”. Keij is chairman of the Stichting Nederlanders Buiten Nederland (SNBN) – the foundation that fights for the rights of Dutch nationals abroad.
The dual nationality problem is perhaps its biggest campaign issue.
“There are thousands of unwilling former Dutchmen and women walking round,” says Keij. “They can’t vote, they lose their freedom to travel and take care of their elderly parents in the Netherlands – these are just some of the effects.”
The same, of course, applies to foreign nationals living in the Netherlands. If they want to be able to vote – as well as pay taxes – if they want to stay in the country without the hassle of a work permit, they have to become Dutch and that means in most cases, giving up their original nationality.
I should point out here that if you have a long-term Dutch partner and life here, or went through the Dutch school system and are now 18, or have reached the age of 65 – then you can have both. But for most people it is one passport or the other.
No longer British
I know couples who have given up their British nationality to become Dutch, while their children who have never lived in the UK have both, a situation which is frankly absurd.
The SNBN has fought a high profile campaign to focus attention on the rights of Dutch people who happen to live in another country, and has had some victories along the way. Dutch nationals abroad now have the right to vote for the senate, for example, thanks to SNBN campaigning.
The coalition agreement between D66, the VVD and CDA also includes a commitment to ensure that Dutch people “do not lose their nationality more quickly than the Germans, Belgians, French and Brits”, thanks again to the SNBN.
A clear choice
Given that none of those countries make their citizens give up their original nationality to adopt a second one, you would think this clears the way for everyone faced with such a choice. Nothing, however, has been said yet about how this would work in practice… or if the new government will do anything to actually ensure it becomes law.
Opponents of dual nationality argue that you cannot be loyal to two countries, or that you need to be really, really committed to the Netherlands to deemed to be worthy of a Dutch passport. But this is a romantic notion which dates back to the age of empires, and completely at odds with the practicalities of modern life.
It’s a point too, that Keij makes in the AD. “Adopting another nationality,” he says, “does not necessarily mean you want to give up your Dutch citizenship.” And that is exactly the point.
Perhaps what we need is a Stichting Buitenlanders Binnen Nederland – a foundation of foreign nationals in the Netherlands – to fight the same cause from a different perspective.
Interested? Drop me a line.
