Managed migration in Netherlands
Recent stories
Issues in the March 2006 local elections
The Christian Democrats (CDA), Liberals (VVD) and the Social Liberals (D66) all suffered substantial losses in the March 2006 local elections, with the Labour Party (PvdA) emerging with the biggest gains.
1 April 2006 (391 words)
New political party representing immigrants launched
The Partij voor Allochtone Nederlanders (PAN), which translates as Party for Newcomer Netherlanders, has been launched in the Hague.
22 March 2006 (95 words)
Rotterdam charter for daily conduct backed by Verdonk
Verdonk's idea of a national code of conduct was apparently inspired by the Rotterdam code, a charter for daily conduct consisting of seven points including encouraging residents to speak only Dutch in schools, at work and on the streets, accepting homosexuality, religious tolerance and equal treatment of men and women.
8 February 2006 (288 words)
Verdonk recommends national code of conduct to bolster Dutch identity
Immigration and integration minister Rita Verdonk has recommended to her party the introduction of a code of conduct to emphasise Dutch identity, including speaking Dutch in the street, non-discrimination and equality between men and women.
23 January 2006 (78 words)
Dutch restaurant refuses to lift headscarf ban
A restaurant in the Hague has refused to lift its ban on serving women in headscarves, despite being told to lift the ban by the commission for equality.
9 September 2004 (81 words)
Dual nationality muddle looms
The new legislation which may force many expatriates to take out Dutch nationality when marrying native-born partners, could end up creating families with both dual national and single status children.
1 September 2004 (39 words)
MP Hirsi Ali courts controversy
Hirsi Ali, a Somali asylum seeker, now a Dutch MP has caused offence within Holland's Muslim community by creating an 11-minute film which allegedly peddles stereotypes and hoary-old traditions which are not considered by the faithful to be true to Islam.
1 September 2004 (184 words)
Antillean MPs condemn integration policy
The Antillean parliament has condemned the integration proposals on the basis that they make a distinction between Dutch nationals born in the EU and born elsewhere.
27 August 2004 (84 words)
Controversial integration plans published
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk seems determined to press ahead with controversial plans not only to visibly enforce integration in the Netherlands but to insist that would-be immigrants begin the integration process in their countries of origin.
5 August 2004 (330 words)
Netherlands - first country to demand integration proof
The Council of State - which advises the government on legislation - and a majority of parliamentarians have approved a proposal which will mean that the Netherlands will become the first European nation to demand that non-EU immigrants complete a pre-arrival integration course in their country of origin.
18 June 2004 (544 words)
Former VVD leader blames party for cultivating migrant hate
In an interview with Algemeen Dagblad, the former Liberal VVD leader Hans Dijkstal has claimed that Dutch political culture is sowing hate and criminalising migrants, and that much of the blame for this should be placed on VVD parliamentary leader Jozias van Aartsen who he described as 'il capo' (the term for inmates who collaborated with concentration camp guards).
8 June 2004 (158 words)
Greater powers for Randstad cities to discriminate against the poor
Special emergency legislative changes have been introduced for the Randstad cities to allow the municipalities of Rotterdam, the Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht to use income level as a benchmark for refusing people to move to the city.
23 April 2004 (87 words)
Arguments about cultural deficit dominate parliamentary integration debate
Integration and immigration, linked to security, have become major issues for the political parties, involving intense parliamentary debate particularly around the findings of the Blok Commission and the introduction of a whole raft of measures governing family unification, dual nationality, migration and the entry of migrants from low socio-economic groups.
23 April 2004 (408 words)
Findings of Blok Commission implemented in new integration measures
The Blok Commission report stressed that past integration successes had been largely due to the actions of migrants and native Dutch, and not to the government's integration policies.
21 April 2004 (275 words)
Rotterdam: controversial council housing plan to keep out poor migrants
Rotterdam City Council, composed of Christian Democrats, Liberal VVD and the populist Liveable Rotterdam (LR) hopes to prevent underprivileged migrants from moving to the city by refusing housing to anyone who does not earn at least 20% above the minimum wage.
2 December 2003 (389 words)
Immigration minister defends integration vision
In October 2003, the immigration minister Rita Verdonk defended her plans for compulsory language courses for immigrants and indicated that financial assistance might be offered to migrants who could not afford the fees.
28 October 2003 (227 words)
Rotterdam Council wants mosque construction around integration concept
Rotterdam Council has waged a drawn out battle against the Moroccan community's plan to build one of the largest mosques in Europe in Rotterdam South.
24 October 2003 (353 words)
Immigration and integration policies linked to fighting terrorism
In May 2003, the Aliens Advisory Committee issued a report which focused on immigration and integration policy in the contact of combating terrorism.
26 September 2003 (145 words)
Controversial parliamentary inquiry into integration policies reports
In September 2002, a parliamentary inquiry was set up into the thirty years of integration policy in the Netherlands.
26 September 2003 (488 words)
Schools dress code focuses on headscarf only
The Christian Democrat minister of education, Maria van der Hoeven, has introduced guidelines for schools, ostensibly to help them regulate the clothes worn by pupils, but it seems aimed solely at Muslim girls who wear the headscarf.
1 August 2003 (293 words)
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