Migration, Islamophobia, and Securitisation

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the major concerns surrounding the nature of Dutch Muslim communities in the Netherlands. First, a review of some of the main trends in the migration, settlement, and integration of Dutch ethnic minorities is provided, with a particular emphasis on the Dutch Muslim experience in the Netherlands. Due to different post-war migration policies, as well as problems of race and racialisation, Dutch Muslim communities have faced various types of discrimination and exclusion that continue to this day. There is also a detectable experience of Islamophobia, which arises alongside concerns of discrimination, orientalism, and racialisation and influences the group’s perceptions of identity, belonging, and citizenship. The experiences of Moroccan, Turkish, and South Asian-origin Dutch Muslims are particularly examined. It is also said that this Islamophobia was exacerbated by the ‘war on terror’ and continues to this day as a result of the continued influence of securitisation of Dutch Muslim communities. This chapter attempts to present an overview of some of the key topics concerning radicalisation, which are said to be a result of racialised social conflict norms that remain to this day.