Young Dutch Somalis in the UK: Citizenship, Identities and Belonging in a Transnational Triangle

In this article the case of young Somalis with a Dutch passport living in the UK is taken as an example to illustrate that new mobilities have resulted in complex transnational orientations on the part of migrants that may involve more than two different countries. In the early 1990s many Somalis arrived in the Netherlands as asylum seekers. Ten years later, however, a third of the Dutch Somali community had moved to the United Kingdom, many of them at a very young age. These Dutch citizens with a Somali background who now live in the UK are orientated towards the Netherlands (a country where most have resided for more than ten years and where some were even born), the UK (their new 'home country'), as well as Somalia where they themselves or their parents were raised. These complex affective links with various countries challenge us to reflect critically on the relationships between citizenship, identities and belonging and have an impact on Dutch Somalis' return mobilities.