Surinamese people in the Netherlands

Surinamese Dutch

Total population
(350,000 (2013))
Languages
Dutch, Sranan Tongo, Caribbean Hindustani, Javanese, English, Portuguese
Religion
Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Winti

Surinamese people in the Netherlands are people in the Netherlands who come from a Surinamese background. Until 1975, Suriname belonged to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Migration began during the colonial era. Initially this was mainly the colonial elite but expanded during the 1920s and 1930s to the less fortunate inhabitants looking for better education, employment, or other opportunities.^[1]

Approximately 350,000 individuals of Surinamese descent now live in the Netherlands, with mass migration beginning in the years leading up to Suriname's independence in 1975, and continuing in the period immediately after independence and during military rule in the 1980s. Surinamese continued to migrate to the Netherlands throughout the 1990s because of the then tough economic situation in Suriname. Most Surinamese people in the Netherlands have a Dutch passport and the majority of whom have been successfully integrated into Dutch society.

Six percent of Dutch people of Chinese descent can trace their ancestry through Suriname. Most of them are Hakka people.

References

1. Gert Oostindie en Emy Maduro, In het land van de overheerser - II - Antillianen en Surinamers in Nederland 1634/1667-1954 (KITLV; Leiden 1986)