Despite the physical distance from their families, most Dutch prisoners managed to maintain contact with the outside world. Due to the costs associated with traveling to see them, only one in three reported being visited by a relative. Instead, they were largely dependent on telephone calls and postal services, the latter of which was often expensive and the former unreliable. Dutch prisoners were usually aware of their right to contact their diplomatic mission and able to establish contact with officials. They were very negative about their inclusion in the general life of the prison. Many criticised interaction with prison staff. Linguistic barriers were seen as one of the reasons for this but also because they felt that they were treated as a ‘number’ rather than a human being. They were less negative about their interaction and communication with other prisoners, although they were critical about a general lack of activity. Dutch prisoners found it difficult to participate in reintegration activities and they did not feel prepared to return to society. In the questionnaire they indicated a long catalogue of needs once released. At the top of their list was the essential requirement of finding a place to stay and an income, followed by needing to see a doctor and to arrange paperwork. Most prisoners regarded their experience of imprisonment as the most important personal reason for not reoffending. One man explained that his confinement abroad felt like a ‘nightmare.’ His experiences had made him also cynical and suspicious. Another, who had smuggled drugs, concluded that the promised profit of his criminal act was ineradicably outweighed by his loss of freedom. A third man felt he was in the middle of a bad ‘B-movie’ in which he had to be on his guards all the time. Relatives of prisoners reiterated these views, giving more examples of the negative impact of the imprisonment abroad. For one mother it was a ‘devastating period’ when she felt completely powerless and uncertain about the outcome of the case and how her son could survive. Ex-prisoners who returned to the Netherlands found it very difficult to reintegrate. Several admitted during imprisonment that they felt ‘scared’ about their release and what would happen. One ex-prisoner indicated that the period after release was more challenging than his confinement. He felt completely on his own and unable to solve his new problems. Most prisoners experienced difficulties, especially in the first weeks and months after release. Obstacles included becoming registered again in a municipality, obtaining official papers, finding a shelter or housing and an income. Municipalities in the Netherlands deregister persons who have not been living in their community for a while, so while they are responsible for providing aftercare to ex-prisoners in their community, without an official registration it is not possible to receive support or to make use of a shelter. As a result many, exprisoners have to rely for months on support from their families. One prisoner who already knew he could not receive support from his family expected to camp at Amsterdam Central train station. Consular assistance to Dutch nationals in foreign detention In contrast to their sense of being without help after release, a number of the prisoners I interviewed had received considerable assistance during their imprisonment from a range of Dutch organisations and individuals. Whether the Netherlands provides consular assistance to Dutch nationals is up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other organisations involved. In practice the Netherlands consistently provides consular assistance to Dutch nationals in foreign prisons, although this is not an absolute right. There is no Dutch Consular Act, like that in Germany, from which prisoners can derive rights, and the starting point of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that, under existing international law, states are not formally required to provide consular assistance.16 There are three main organisations in the Netherlands that provide consular assistance to Dutch nationals in foreign detention. These are the Consular Affairs and Migration Policy Department at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Dutch diplomatic missions, the International Office of the Dutch Probation Service17 and the religious foundation Epafras. Each organisation has its own aims. The conditions under which Dutch nationals are imprisoned abroad and the kind of consular assistance they receive (or not) has been under discussion in the parliament and in the press over the last 25 years. Widespread concerns about these conditions have led Most prisoners regarded their experience of imprisonment as the most important personal reason for not reoffending. 16. 17. 54 Letter from Minister of Foreign Affairs to Dutch parliament in 2002. This statement was supported by a court decision of the Court in The Hague in 2004 and a decision of the Dutch National Ombudsman in 2006. Dutch translation for ‘Bureau Buitenland’. Prison Service Journal Issue 205