Putting Our Own Animals First!: On the Criminalization of the Migration of Other than Human Animals

Abstract

Introduction On this planet humans are not the only creatures that migrate. Other animals2 do so too. As the paraphrased English language version of the newspaper clipping above illustrates, humans do not only worry about human migrants. Migratorymovements by other species are watched carefully and at times they can cause as much upheaval as human migration. Migration by other species is at times even called ‘invasive’. But are these creatures really out to get us? In this chapter a comparison will be made between migratory movements of humans and animals in the Dutch context.3 In the first section attention will be paid to the vocabulary used describing non-native species – humans and other animals – in Dutch media and policies regarding animal migration. The starting point is the first policy memorandum on invasive species that was published in 2007. How the animal migrants are described in this text, and why their migration to the Netherlands is considered to be dangerous, are discussed. The key issue of differences and similarities in human and animal migration is then considered. The chapter then examines the particular ideas and outlooks on society that have most influenced the worries about migratory processes. Finally some remarks will be made on the fundamental question of how migrants – human or other animal – can become ‘native’ and therefore a fully appreciated member of society.