Living a life without papers. A case study on the feelings of belonging of undocumented people in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Abstract

This thesis has been written on the feelings of belonging of undocumented migrants who live in larger cities and the influence that NGO’s have on the development of these feelings. Throughout this thesis is has been argued that undocumented people mainly develop feelings of belonging due to the social network that they have built. If people have a group of other people they feel they belong to and have places they can identify with, they will experience a sense of belonging. For undocumented people, their social network is not only important to fulfil their need to belong somewhere, it also helps them to survive. Without connections, many undocumented people would sleep on the streets, don’t know how to get food or know how to access health care. NGO’s have a large influence on the everyday life of an undocumented migrant. People are dependent on them for support, both social and legal, and spend a lot of time the NGO. Besides the support that they offer, NGO’s function as a meeting ground for undocumented people. They are the places where the social network is formed and maintained and therefore have an important function in people’s lives.