Assisting Dutch Nationals Imprisoned Abroad Femke Hofstee-van der Meulen is Inspector of prisons at the Dutch Inspectorate of Security and Justice.1 ’For those arrested outside their own country, detained hundreds of miles from home, unable to speak the local language, ignorant of the local legal system and with no idea of who to turn to for help, consular assistance provides a lifeline. It is, however, a public service which has been subject to almost no detailed examination whether by academic institutions, bodies like Fair Trials International or even Ministries of Foreign Affairs themselves.’ Fair Trials International, November 2009. Introduction Worldwide just over 10 million people are in prison2 and more than 460,000 are confined in a country of which they do not have the nationality. This is a considerable sum and it is likely that the total number will continue to rise due to further globalisation. In the European Union, more than one in six prisoners is a foreign national.3 Heterogeneous prison populations are more complex and therefore more difficult for prison staff to manage.4 Foreign national prisoners are also considered a ‘vulnerable group’5 by international monitoring bodies, as they face additional difficulties as a result of their foreign status and have fewer opportunities to exercise their statutory rights. It is also more difficult for them to prepare for their resettlement and address offending behaviour, which is costly for societies as a whole. Despite the high number of foreign national prisoners in many penal systems, they remain, in many respects, a ‘forgotten’ group of prisoners. This article examines the particular circumstances of imprisoned Dutch nationals, of whom 2,500 are incarcerated outside the Netherlands.6 Drawing on a wider research project with this group it explores how these prisoners experience incarceration, and the particular needs they 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 52 have as foreign national prisoners, such as legal information, help in contacting the outside world and preparation for release.7 In this context, the article examines the unusually high level of support and consular assistance that is provided to Dutch prisoners abroad, and the impact that it had on their detention experience in prison and their preparation for release. To gather the data, I sent a questionnaire to all Dutch nationals in foreign prisons, to all prisoners’ families, and to a selection of consular staff. In addition to that quantitative data I interviewed 46 prisoners during their period of confinement abroad and 10 after release. I also interviewed some of their relatives, staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a selection of staff and volunteers at the International Office of the Dutch Probation Service and ‘Epafras’. The latter is a religious organisation that provides support and assistance alongside the Ministry and the Probation Service.8 Profile of Dutch nationals detained abroad In the last 25 years the total number of Dutch prisoners abroad has more than quadrupled: from 579 in 1988 to 2,459 in 2012.9 This group is similar in number to the British nationals incarcerated overseas (2,582), despite the fact that the British national population is nearly four times the size of the Netherlands.10 The author has worked at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the European Parliament in Brussels and at the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) in London. In the Netherlands, she established Prison Watch (www.prisonwatch.org), an independent organisation that carries out research on prison related topics for national and international (non) governmental organisations and universities. She is planning to finish her PhD in 2013. World Prison Brief, International Centre for Prison Studies at www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief Kalmthout, v. A.M., F. Hofstee-van der Meulen, F. Dünkel, Foreigners in European Prisons, (2007) p 7. 14th CoE Conference of Directors of Prison Administrations (CDAP), Vienna, 19-21 November 2007. 4th Annual Report SPT (3 February 2011) Paragraph 107. j) and CoE, CPT Standards (2010) §52, p 16. TK 30010 Letter nr. 18 by Minister of Foreign Affairs to Parliament ‘Gedetineerdenbegeleiding buitenland’ 10th July 2012, p 1. UNODC Handbook on Prisoners with special needs (2009) p 80-88. The research reported here was collected for a PhD thesis due to be completed in 2013. The data are based on a questionnaire distributed to 2,606 Dutch nationals in foreign prisons (response 584 from 54 countries), a questionnaire for prisoners’ family (response 248) and questions for consular staff at Dutch diplomatic missions (response 83 countries). The qualitative data consist of indepth interviews with Dutch prisoners during detention (46), ex-prisoners (10), relatives of prisoners (15), consular staff at diplomatic missions (14), consular staff at ministry of Foreign Affairs (4), visiting volunteers of Dutch Probation Service (11), staff from International Office of Dutch Probation Service (5), chaplains of Epafras (8), staff from Epafras (2) and letters from prisoners (48). Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 2012. BBC about Foreign Office figures in article ‘Over 1,000 Britons are jailed over drugs abroad’, 3rd February 2010. Prison Service Journal Issue 205