New integration law delays causing concerns

The new integration law that came into effect more than a year ago, is encountering a number of implementation problems. Municipalities "certainly" see bottlenecks in the law, and figures from the Ministry of Social Affairs "seem to indicate that persons with a civic integration obligation are starting their civic integration later than hoped." In the first quarter of 2023, there should be a more comprehensive analysis of how quickly newcomers are integrating.

On 1 January, 2022, the new integration law went into effect after a complicated legislative process. There were major concerns about the new system, which places more importance on municipalities and is intended to ensure the rapid integration of newcomers. It is intended that municipalities will accompany those obliged to integrate in their civic integration. A personal plan (Plan Inburgering en Participatie) is therefore drawn up for each newcomer, according to which civic integration can begin. The plan is supposed to be completed within ten weeks, "which, however, does not always prove feasible in practice," the ministry said.

According to the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), this is partly because status holders (refugees who have been granted residence status) are sometimes still placed in an asylum seeker center or temporary accommodation before being placed in a municipality. "At a great distance from the community, it is a challenge" to make preparations for integration.

If the inflow of asylum seekers from asylum shelters gets underway and they integrate into society soon, the shortage of language teachers could set off a "chain reaction," municipalities fear. There is already a "major shortage." Quality guarantees for teachers who teach Dutch as a second language were recently relaxed, but it is not yet clear how much relief this will bring.

VNG also referred to the false start of the new law on the integration of citizens. The association stressed that "the first delay was immediate. Indeed, the municipalities were not provided with the correct data of integration applicants by DUO until the end of March," the umbrella organization told ANP. "The process of imposing the integration obligation only started in April, not on January 1."

There were also concerns about financial support for status holders. In this regard, the municipalities would like to have more freedom to make their own decisions that better suit the individual situation of the people to be integrated. This request also applies to the viability test, which is about the language level of the persons to be integrated. This test "regularly leads to a different result than expected for both asylum seekers and family migrants."

However, VNG stressed that it supports "the purpose and direction" of the law. Moreover, the advocacy group said, the new system is a "learning system." In the coming period, it will need to review with stakeholders where adjustments to the system are needed.