On 10 May 1940, the Netherlands was taken completely by surprise by the attack of the German army. Wasn’t it? In his dissertation, Wouter Linmans debunks the idea that the Second World War took the Netherlands by surprise. ‘From 1935 onwards, all major political parties wanted to invest in the military.’…

On 30 November 2019, the event ‘Bogus constructions and intra EU migrants (working in the Netherlands)' took place. This very successful seminar was organized in spirit of the project Solidarity Under Strain (SOLID), part of the research focus area ILS 2.0.

Professor P.F. (Paul) Wouters has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences with effect from 1 January 2019. Wouters has been appointed for a period of three years and succeeds Professor Hanna Swaab, whose second term of office as dean expires this year. Swaab will remain…

‘I was very happy and honoured that my thesis was recognised as a valuable contribution to the topic of landscape archaeology.’

A man died in Assen while being detained by bystanders. The man allegedly touched a young girl inappropriately and the girl’s father is believed to have been one of the bystanders. Five men have been arrested by the police and later released. As a result, wild rumours have started circulating. How does…

With his master thesis ‘Passion for Sustainable Fashion’ Public Administration student Wouter Kuin has won the SER thesis award 2018 of the Social Economic Council. He was awarded the prize because of the great relevance for the SER-work, the thorough research, the high analytical level and the good…

For the first time in the history of the Van den Berg prize, there are two winners: the ‘traditional’ one for the best thesis by a student in the Dutch bachelor’s programmes in Political Science, and, as of 2020, one for a graduate from the International Relations and Organisations (IRO) specialisation.…

Hundreds of millions of Chinese workers have moved from the countryside to the city. This social transformation has birthed a tradition of migrant worker poetry, professor Maghiel van Crevel states in Jacobin.

Sarah de Rijcke and Paul Wouters (CWTS) are partners in a new European consortium funded by the Swedisch Riksbankens Jubileumsfond: Knowledge in science and policy.

Angry politicians, angry journalists: the initiative of Forum for Democracy politician Gideon van Meijeren during which he secretly filmed a reporter portraying them as a ‘sewer rat’, caused a lot of anger. Where does all this commotion come from? Wouter Hins: ‘Calling a journalist a

Consensus among Member States on the return of failed asylum seekers is currently lacking. For that reason, the Head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wants new legislation that provides for a uniform policy. Armin Cuyvers, Professor of European Law, commented on the issue on Dutch radio…

When politicians claim they can make major differences with their migration policies, they’re raising false expectations. The opportunities for the government to restrict migration are in fact very limited. And what about the little room they do have? Mark Klaassen’s advice is to make use of those opportunities…

The Dutch public broadcasting organisation NPO has asked State Secretary for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu to revoke the licence of Ongehoord Nederland. Wouter Hins, emeritus professor of media law, explains how unique the NPO’s request is.

Alex Brandsen and Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart, PhD candidates in the Digital Archaeology research group and the Data Science Research Programme, have been awarded a 444 grant by Young Academy Leiden. They are going to use it to hold a session in Oxford on improving collaboration between researchers…

This collaborative study examines the major challenges facing migrant groups and the implications of deep social exclusion for policy and practice.

EU migrants receive less frequent and lower benefits and allowances than Dutch citizens. This is according to research by Leiden economists Olaf van Vliet and Eduard Suari Andreu published as part of the Social Citizenship & Migration research programme. The research is discussed in Dutch newspaper…

The EU Return Directive gives migrants residing unlawfully in the European Union the option to leave voluntarily. This is to avoid detention and forced expulsion. But the directive is too vague and can lead to unfair procedures and even human rights violations, PhD candidate Christian Mommers conclu…

NWO-funded audiovisual research into the experiences of migrants during major life events has culminated in new insights that can further our understanding of complex migration dynamics. The completion of this five-year project was marked with a roundtable event including international guests.

The Netherlands cannot stop European labour migrants coming here. Nor does The Hague have much influence on the influx of asylum seekers. But experts believe that we should be able to reduce the need for labour migrants by using intelligent economic policies.

Dr. Sara Brandellero, expert in Lusophone literatures and cultures and member of the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society, will lead a research project about urban night life and migration, culture and integration in eight European cities. The project aims to support community well-being…

George Floyd's death still leads to fierce protests against police violence and racism on a daily basis in the United States and abroad. We asked Paul Wouters how he experiences these developments and what this will mean for our faculty.

On Wednesday 22 June 2016 Wouter den Hollander will defend his PhD Thesis De relativiteit van wettelijke normen ('The Relativity of Statutory Provisions'). The public defence starts at 16.15 hours in the Academy Building.

When you think of migration, you probably won’t immediately think of dating apps. Yet such apps are important to many migrants, such as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer or questioning (LGBT+). Researcher Andrew DJ Shield studied the role that dating apps play in the migration process,…

The Netherlands and Morocco: relations between the two countries go back a long way. Assistant professor Nadia Bouras is researching these relations. Of Moroccan migrant workers, she says, 'In the seventies the predominant idea was that everyone had the right to their own culture and religion. That's…

On September 1st, during the opening of the academic year, former IBL-student in Science-Based Business Wouter Bruins was awarded the prize for his publicity achievements for the university.

Article 1F Refugee Convention obligates the States Parties to the Convention to exclude individuals, with respect to whom there are serious reasons to consider that they were involved in the commission of severe crimes, from protection as refugees. Article 1F(b) specifically covers serious non-political…

Paul Wouters came to the Faculty of Science for a few months to help with organising day-to-day issues after the previous dean left. This has involved rather more than he expected. ‘I can now really understand why every faculty has its own dean.’

More and more reports appear in de media claiming that Frontex, the organisation coordinating the joint border control of the European Union, has been helping the Greek coastguard to stop asylum seekers at sea. In doing so, has Frontex endangered the lives of migrants?

We are pleased to invite paper proposals for the 1.5-day interdisciplinary workshop: “Who rules over migrants? Autocratic elements in migration policies”, that will take place at the University of Leiden on 14 and 15 November 2024.

The nineteenth century truly was an age of transformation. Throughout Europe processes of industrialization and urbanization, nationalization and centralization, changed the structures of society. It was an age in which the number of people living in urban communities grew substantially.

On 21 September 2022 H. Hu successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Political parties want to reduce labour migration, but without harming the Dutch economy. Is that actually possible? Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics, spoke to public broadcaster NOS about the pros and cons of restrictive measures.

Mariana Gkliati participated on Saturday 2 June at ‘Europe on Trial'.

What are the rights of migrants in Morocco and how do this receiving state and migrants deal with them in practice?

Workshop

Aid workers being summoned to appear before a court in Greece and more stringent rules for rescue boats in Italy. Is providing aid to asylum seekers being criminalised? There's no doubt about it, according to Joanne van der Leun and Peter Rodrigues.

The central aim is to systematically study differences in crime patterns and social control between migrants and non-migrants in early modern Frankfurt am Main.

From colonial times through to the present day, large numbers of Javanese have left their homes to settle in other parts of Indonesia or much further afield. Frequently this dispersion was forced, often with traumatic results.

This book sheds new light on domestic forced migration by examining the experiences of American-born slave migrants from a comparative perspective.

The proposed project evaluates how the vulnerability of migrant men and women was constructed in political, public and media discourses, and how differences in the constructed vulnerability influenced the decision to migrate, the migration process, and the subsequent settlement process.

The staff members of the Methodology & Statistics unit are members of various boards and committees.

Moving Romans offers an analysis of Roman migration by applying general insights, models and theories from the field of migration history.

The authors compare assumptions about normative utility of the term 'environmental refugee' with empirical evidence compared to 'environmental migrant'.

The team consists of

The Institute Council (IC) provides an important link between the Institute Board, institute committees, and staff groups (i.e. scientific staff, support personnel, permanent and temporary) and student members of the institute. The IC has an important role regarding policies, strategies and other…

In the late 19th and early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Chinese labor migrants crossed the seas to the Dutch East Indies. On the tobacco plantations of northeastern Sumatra and in the tin mines of Bangka and Belitung, they endured long hours and harsh conditions. Their journeys formed part…

How are night spaces imagined, produced, experienced and narrated by migrant communities in Europe? This research project considers this question in eight European cities: Aarhus, Amsterdam, Berlin, Cork, Galway, Lisbon, London, Rotterdam. Authorities have historically wrestled with the issue of night-time…

Booklaunch

One million migrant workers are employed in the Netherlands, often in poor conditions. If we want to reduce labour migration, we need to restructure the economy, says economist Olaf van Vliet. Either way, we need to address abuses, says FNV lawyer Imke van Gardingen.

Gerrie Lodder has published an article in the Dutch legal periodical Nederlands Juristenblad on the exploitation of labour migrants from the perspective of human rights.