Pre-197a, part

Given that human smuggling has only been a criminal offence in the Nether- lands since 31 December 1993 (which means that the law actually came into force

on 1 January 1994), 1994 is an important dividing line in the question as to whether changes have occurred in smuggling organizations as a result of govern- ment policy. In this context it is logical to assume that human smuggling must also have occurred before 1994 because new legislation always comes after the occurrence of criminal developments. Criminal provisions cannot be drawn up immediately, so there will have already been human smuggling activities noted in the run-up to the new provisions. However, the question is how far does this period go back in connection with the smuggling of Chinese?

Remarkably, it goes a long way back, to before the Second World War. There is evidence of human smuggling since the emergence of the Chinese community in the Netherlands. Van Heek, for example, researched the Chinese community in the 1930s. One of the crimes that he addressed was smuggling. This included the smuggling of goods, but the “smuggling of humans” is also mentioned under a separate heading (Van Heek, 1936: 82). Rotterdam was an important transit port for these activities. Van Heek did not venture an estimate of the number of Chinese nationals who entered the Netherlands illegally, but he expected the number to be very high.

A report drawn up by Inspector Van Vliet of the Rotterdam Aliens Police Department also states that the Netherlands was a transit country for Chinese human smuggling as early as 1920. For example, a Chinese national living in Lombokstraat in Rotterdam was “under serious suspicion of involvement in the smuggling of Chinese nationals as stowaways to America” (Van Vliet, 1920: 5). The use of forged documents appears to have been standard practice.

“Reports reach me that prove irrefutably that Chinese nationals are entering our country using passports sent to them – at their place of residence abroad – by countrymen who are already in the Netherlands. When they show these passports at the Dutch border, they apparently count on the similarity in appearance between many Chinese causing the border official not to notice that the photograph in the passport is somewhat different from the countenance of the bearer” (Report 63/3166, 1935).

However, no information for this early use of the look-a-like method is given about whether payment was required and if so, how much. However, the smug- gling of Chinese nationals before the Second World War into the Netherlands probably already involved large sums of money. A Chinese man, for example, made the following statement about how he came to the Netherlands:

“I come from a farming family in Zhejiang. We were neither poor nor rich; we were middle class. But in the ‘30s things got worse and worse for us […] Then our former neighbor came back from Europe. His father-in-law had given him money to visit his family and told him that he should bring his family and friends back with him if they also wanted to go to Europe. I went with him, together with four others from my village, three men and one woman. My wife and son stayed behind. I was supposed to pay 300 Chinese guilders for the voyage. That was a lot; it was in 1936. We traveled first to Shanghai. From there we sailed on a German cargo ship to Marseilles. In Marseilles I went ashore, which I had to do in secret. The others traveled on to Germany and the Netherlands.” (Sciortino et al., 1993: 12).

Still, there is not enough information available about the organization of these early forms of smuggling to substantiate any statements. Nevertheless, it would be mistaken to disregard this smuggling of Chinese nationals as only small-scale in terms of organization. For example, Wubben reported a large-scale smuggling operation (Wubben, 1986: 119-122). This concerned the following. As a result of the barriers to migration by Asians put up by Australia in the 1920s, they were only able to enter Australia if they were smuggled in. However, the ships that came directly from China were rigorously checked. Therefore a supply route developed from an unsuspected spot like the Netherlands. First of all, the humans to be smuggled were brought illegally on board ships bound for Europe in Hong Kong or Singapore. The migrants would often be disembarked in Mar- seilles or Genoa where they would be given temporary accommodation in the local Chinese community. They would then travel on to Rotterdam by land. Hav- ing gathered in Rotterdam, the illegal aliens would be smuggled on board Dutch ships bound for Australia. During the journey they had to hide in concealed spaces, which led to terrible conditions. Although they were given food and drink by European or Chinese crew members who had been bribed, problems could occur – especially with large groups. For example, in October 1927, 50 illegal aliens were found on a Dutch ship in Freemantle harbor. They were so weak that they were unable to leave the ship unaided. At least two stowaways had suc- cumbed to the hardships of the journey and they had been thrown overboard with the utmost secrecy on the open sea. Although there were a lot of rumors during the subsequent inquiry about large profit margins, bribed Lloyds ships officers and the involvement of shipping masters, no one was ever convicted.