Globalisation, migration, and undocumented immigrants

Abstract

Abstract One of the manifestations of globalisation is the rapid increase in international migration. Most countries in the Western world have tried to restrict the migratory flows from peripheral economic areas. A new category of migrants has thus been created: the illegal aliens. The present article attempts to answer the question of how illegal aliens manage to survive in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. Applying theoretical notions which have recently been developed in the field of urban studies, and more particularly in the work on ‘global cities’, we expected to find illegal migrants coming mostly from the countries from which guest‐workers were formerly recruited and from former Dutch colonies. Furthermore, we expected to find that illegal aliens would be employed in the basic levels of traditional sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing and in parts of the expanding service industries. Although both hypotheses were confirmed, two findings stand out. First, more than half of the illegal aliens ha...