The Dutch government agrees that population growth in the Netherlands needs to be slowed down. How they’re going to do that, though, is still a mystery. 👀
In particular, the cabinet wants “moderate population growth” in the Netherlands — and debated how to achieve this on Wednesday, reports the NOS.
Public enemy number one: labour migration
What exactly counts as moderate? Well, as a start, it would include halving the number of immigrants coming into the country — which currently stands at 140,000 newcomers each year.
The majority of the House of Representatives sees current demographic trends in the Netherlands as a threat to prosperity. As such, their focus is on limiting labour migration.
If you’re an international student, you may not want to relax too soon — this is the new Dutch government we’re talking about after all. 😬
Though not their highest priority, the cabinet would also like to see decreases in the number of foreign students and asylum seekers.
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You can let out a small sigh of relief if you don’t work in a slaughterhouse or distribution centre, though. 👇
These are the sectors that are deemed most problematic, because both fields attract a lot of migrant workers that are vulnerable to exploitation.
More left-leaning parties want a harsher stance on employment in these fields, with GL-PVDA (Green Left-Labour) leader Frans Timmermans posing the question of whether these industries are even vital to the Netherlands.
Als we de problemen rond arbeidsmigratie aanpakken en misstanden door malafide werkgevers bestrijden, vermindert de druk op onze samenleving. Dat schept letterlijk meer ruimte, maar ook ruimte in ons hoofd en hart voor de opvang van mensen die vluchten voor oorlog en vervolging. pic.twitter.com/xQfChizgvH
— Frans Timmermans (@F__Timmermans) December 4, 2024
Translation: If we tackle the problems surrounding labor migration and combat abuses by rogue employers, the pressure on our society will decrease. This literally creates more space, but also makes space in our heads and hearts to care for the people fleeing war and persecution.
The right side of the political spectrum still wants to limit migration in these sectors, but is not as critical of the industries as a whole.
“We say: don’t put a line through all kinds of sectors tomorrow,” states VVD (People’s Party of Freedom and Democracy) MP Bente Becker.
Instead, she encourages including employers in the talks on how to limit immigration. (Convincing bosses to give up cheap labour apparently sounds more doable than limiting frikandel consumption. 🙄)
The government debates setting immigration targets
An idea that unites several left and right parties is the introduction of bandwidths that would serve as “guiding target numbers” for each migrant category.
Following the House of Representatives’ well-established pattern, however, the details of this proposal have yet to be fleshed out.
The key issues? Well, immigration is unpredictable and depends on factors outside the Netherlands.
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Furthermore, the Netherlands is bound by international asylum agreements, which means the Dutch government can’t be too creative when coming up with how high (or low!) the guiding numbers would be.
The Minister of Social Affairs, Eddy van Hijum, also states that setting target numbers “only makes sense if you can link it to a policy with which you can then steer on those numbers.”
However, migration also has its merits
Issues related to migration weren’t the only points brought up in the debate, though.
Denk MP Doğukan Ergin emphasises how the Netherlands actually needs more workers and how immigrants can combat an ageing population.
PVV (Freedom Party) MP Maikel Boon vehemently disagrees: he claims that using immigration to combat ageing only postpones the issues an older population brings with it, not solves it.
Various Christian parties also stepped in, to remind the cabinet that (Dutch) people aren’t having enough children.
Dutch women, on average, have 1.43 children — a figure well below “the replacement value of 2.1”.
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