There are a lot of Sikhs living in the Netherlands today. Its a interesting story to tell about. The fact that Sikhs came here and married with a lot of Surnami women to get their passport was a rage among the Punjabi Sikhs who got here. Out of these marriages came a new generation of youth whose roots lies in Punjab as well as Surinam, a land that lies in South-America. Many of these youths have pyaar towards Sikhi and altough many of them feel rooted to Surinam as well as Punjab they feel that they are Sikh. Today there are even 1 or 2 Gurdwara's in Surinam for the Sikhs. Sikhi is spreading trough mysterious ways.
a short note: (I will use "punjabi" instead for "Sikh" because the so called Sikhs that came here were more Punjabi then Sikh. 99% cut their hair and did things a Guru ka Sikh shouldn't do)
Punjabis immigrated to the Netherlands back in the late 70s. Why and how the Punjabis got in their head to come to the Netherlands is not fully known. Many of the Punjabis that left Punjab in those days went straight to Canada or England. The Netherlands was then not a ""well known" country in the west as it is today.
When the Punjabis came here they faced many problems. The biggest of them all was that to get a passport someone had to wait for many years to get one. Many didn't got their papers and eventuelly went back to Punjab or tried other countries in Europe. However, the ones who stayed here used very tricky ways to get their papers. The most of them "used" someones life to get a life of their own.
The Surnami people
When the British almost ruled the world in the 18th century they trade countries with the Netherlands. Some cities of the US belonged to the Netherlands those days while Surinam was in the hands of Britan. The two of them trade countries and Surinam came in the hands of the Netherlands. The Netherlands arranged a deal with the British to transport Indian citizens to Surinam to work. Where the African people came as slaves to Surinam, the Indian people came to build the country up. Many boats with people from Bihar and UP left India to start a new life in Surinam.
Surinam became indenpendent in 1975. Most of the Hindustani people (most of them were Hindus, some Muslims and a small group of Christians) saw that Surinam was doomed because the leaders lacked the responsibilty to lead the country. Out of a desperate state many of the left Surinam and immigrated to the Netherlands. Altough they belonged for more then 100 years to the Netherlands they face many troubles here. Not only racims but the cold winters and culture here made it difficult for many of them. However, coming to the Netherlands gave them the opportunity to see the the Indian people were they belonged to. One one side the Punjabi Sikhs and on the other side the Hindustani Surnamis.
In the beginning most Punjabi and Surnamis lived side by side. However, the trouble began when Punjabis began to marry Surnami women. Where the Surnami women married out of pyaar and to raise a family many Punjabis only married to get their papers. (This is really true, most of the weddings that took place in the 80s where broke after 3 years. There is no research done but i personally think that 95% marriegers and in a devorce. There were also a lot of financiel arrangements made.) The sad thing however was that most Surinam women in the began didn't knew that the Punjabis played a game with them. Altough later when many Punjabis left their womens to get their new wife straight out of Punjab they began to know this tricky games. Another fact that played a big role was that on a financial fact. When the Surnami people came to the Netherlands they knew the Dutch languauge and the system. On the other hand the Punjabis were illegal and didn't know how to build their life here. Many of them started to work for them in their shops. They worked hard for little. The hate grew against each other.
While the Punjabi husband made his wife pregnant he was already planning to leave his wife as soon as he got his papers. They didn't care much if they had bare children with these women. Their only goal was to get the papers, go back to Punjab, marry a punjabi women and to start a new life in the Netherlands. (There are a handful of Punjabis who stayed with their Surnami women till today)
The children of the surnami/punjabi people are today youths are discovering their roots. There are many of them who don't want to deal with Punjab but who blames them? But as the hates is getting lesser and Sikhi is spreading more and more in the west most of the Surnami/Punjabi children here is looking for this new goal. Many go to Punjab to discover their religion, languague and culture. Many go the Gurdwara. Sikhi is spreading in mysterious ways. Where the so called Sikhs from the 80s left Sikhi aside and lived their lives like dumb fools their children which they bare with women they didn't wanted at all are feeling pyaar for the truth here on earth. Sikhi is slowy spreading in the minds of these people. You can call it the work of the Guru Sahibaans or just the way things go, but sometimes things just go in direction you wouldn't expect.
Altough the way to the true message of Sikhi is not reach yet the basics are being set here. The community is growing and where the most desis are Hindus or Muslims the Sikhs are growing silently.