Last year, more than 400,000 people came to the Netherlands from abroad, and just 180,000 left. With Dutch elections coming up, the topic of internationals is on every politician’s mind. Here’s a rundown of what they say.
Spoiler alert: As NU.nl reports, pretty much all parties want to establish some sort of control over the number of internationals in the Netherlands.
Whether it’s because of housing shortages, limits on healthcare, or a lack of educational resources — one thing is clear: internationals are a little less welcome in the flat country.
READ MORE | OPINION: Why the Dutch government (really) wants fewer internationals in the Netherlands
International students in the Netherlands
Ah yes, an international education — the dream of many! So many, in fact, that last academic year, 15% of all higher education students in the Netherlands came from abroad.
Now, all Dutch parties want to set a limit to this so-called “study migration”. What varies between parties is how they want to go about it.
- Centre-right VVD wants to limit the number of international students who are admitted to Dutch university courses.
- Right-wing parties PVV and CDA, the new centre-conservative NSC, and centre-left GL-PvdA favour limiting the amount of English-taught courses — albeit with some variations.
Who wants international students to keep coming? Mostly, Volt and D66 — two social liberal parties.
International workers in the Netherlands
Most people come to the Netherlands for work, but many of them don’t work or live in great conditions. This is an issue that almost all parties address in their election programme.
Many want companies to prove that there are enough facilities, such as housing, for workers to access. Others want to get rid of the previously popular tax benefits for expats.
READ MORE | Leading Dutch politician wants to put a cap on internationals: ‘no more than 50,000 per year’
Others want to approach things on a case-by-case basis and consider a separate social security system for non-EU workers (VVD) or limit workers from Eastern Europe (CDA).
Note: The Dutch government may want these policies, but there is guaranteed free traffic of people within the EU. There is nothing the Netherlands can do about that.
International asylum seekers in the Netherlands
When it comes to asylum seekers, many right-wing parties want stricter policies. Left-wing parties, on the other hand, are more open to refugees and make the case for humane housing.
On the stricter side, proposed policies include stopping immigration for an indefinite period, limiting the number of asylum seekers, or determining whether refugees should be let into the Netherlands based on why they left their country.
Most parties haven’t stated how many asylum seekers they would permit, or how they plan to enforce limits that may contradict international agreements on refugees.
Many centre and rightwing parties also want to revamp family-reunification policies, making it harder for refugee families to unite in the Netherlands after one member of the family has travelled ahead.
READ MORE | The asylum crisis in the Netherlands: here’s the rundown
Again, and this is a recurring theme, parties often don’t specify how they want to arrange family reuniting, or if their policies are, legally speaking, even possible.
What do you think of these policies? Tell us in the comments!