Refugees should be housed where they can find work easier: Planning office

When housing refugees, their job opportunities should be carefully considered. This can be done by taking into account the refugee's knowledge and skills and by linking this to the characteristics of the labor market in regions, concluded the Central Planning Bureau (CPB) after a study.

About a fifth of refugees move to another municipality within a period of three years. But that doesn't happen in regions where they have the best job opportunities. Though the CPB added that relocation behavior can be unpredictable.

From next year, municipalities will again be in charge of the integration of migrants. The new law that regulates this aims to promote integration in the labor market. According to the CPB, municipalities should work on the integration of refugees from the outset and assume that they will not want to leave. This not only helps the refugees, but also the municipalities themselves, is the message.