ABSTRACT
Until 1961, the Netherlands had a negative migratory balance as many Dutch left to settle in Canada and Australia after the Second World War. During the 1950s, the main incoming flows were citizens from the former colony of Indonesia. Starting a bit later than other Northern European countries, in the 1960s and 1970s, the Dutch Government recruited unskilled workers from Southern Europe, Turkey and Morocco. The labour migrants recruited from Southern Europe and Yugoslavia in part returned home during the economic crisis in the 1970s and the ending of the recruitment policies. By contrast, the Turkish and Moroccan migrants, despite initial government plans to stimulate re-emigration, often ended up staying and are now among the largest migrant populations in the Netherlands. Starting in the mid-1970s, they benefited from possibilities of family reunification; and family formation began in the 1980s. Since the 1970s, there has also been a consistent and continuing migration from the Dutch overseas territories, mainly from Suriname and from the Dutch Caribbean islands (Antilles and Aruba), which continue to be part of the Dutch crown and, as a result, have no restrictions on immigration.
