Ethnic Heterogeneity of Cancer in Europe : Lessons from registry-based studies in migrants

Europe has long since laid off its image as a primarily emigration-dominated continent and has transformed into a coveted destination of immigrants from all over the world. Immigration has substantially characterized the European society and has ensured a positive migration balance as well as a rejuvenating influence in many countries since mid-1900s (2). In Europe, there have been three major migration waves since World War II. Immigration to the Netherlands is closely interrelated with those developments and exemplary for several other Western European countries, such as Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries. Shortages on the lower labour market caused by the economic growth in the post-war era resulted in vigorous labour migration from the south of Europe, Turkey and the Maghrebian countries. The recruitment of guest-workers stopped with the recession in 1973 (in the Netherlands in 1975) and was followed by family reunification, representing the most common immigration type to the Netherlands. Many Turks and Moroccans residing in the Netherlands and other Western European countries called for their families in order to settle permanently. In the 1980s, the Netherlands faced a post-industrial immigration wave, which mainly consisted of asylum seekers, highly educated migrant workers and illegal immigrants. Next to those developments affecting large parts of Western Europe, some countries, including the Netherlands, experienced substantial postcolonial immigration. The decolonization of the Dutch East Indies caused considerable migration to the Netherlands in the 1950s and 60s. Similarly, the independence of Suriname in 1975 contributed to persistent immigration. Today, about 350,000 Surinamese people live in the Netherlands while Suriname itself hosts about less than half a million inhabitants.

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