An increasing number of immigrants are passing their integration exams. Though more than half are still failing, Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs wrote to parliament on Tuesday
integration
The municipality of Amsterdam is concerned about its Eritrean residents, calling them a "vulnerable group that needs extra attention and guidance to make a good start in the Netherlands". Most Eritreans in Amsterdam are poorly integrated and struggle with health problems and debt
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that Prime Minister Mark Rutte's statements about Turkish-Dutch in the program Zomergasten was inappropriate
D66 leader Alexander Pechtold wants the next government to address inequality in society, he wrote in the foreword of his party's 232 page election program, which he presented on Friday. According to him, it is time to invest in "equal chances", NU.nl reports.
In the coming years the Dutch government will be giving more refugees the opportunity to do volunteer work in the country with the aim of helping them with their integration, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment announced on Saturday. Minister Lodewijk Asscher made a million euros available to create about 14 thousand volunteer jobs
The arrival of asylum seekers and immigration in general are still the greatest issues in the Netherlands by far, according to the Social and Cultural Planning Office's quarterly report. Opinions on the matter are very divided - a large group point to the negatives of asylum seekers in the country, and another large group is alarmed by the other's attitude
The D66 is calling on the government to make 75 million euros available to quickly teach asylum seekers the Dutch language, party leader Alexander Pechtold said on the television program Buitenhof on Sunday
To date not a single immigrant who failed his integration exam had his residency permit revoked, the Ministry of Security and Justice confirmed to broadcaster NOS. But numerous fines of up to 1,250 euros were imposed.
The city of Amsterdam will soon start building a thousand new temporary apartments that will house refugees and students. The homes will be located spread over five locations and be used for 10 years, the municipality announced on Wednesday
Dutch public broadcasters launched a website this week where asylum seekers, immigrants and expatriates can watch Dutch programs subtitled in English and Arabic. The video-on-demand service - called Net in Nederland or New to the Netherlands in English - is intended to help newcomers get used to Dutch society
The Dutch government is making 500 million euros available for the integration of asylum seekers who are given refugee status and allowed to stay in the Netherlands, Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs, Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs and chairman of the Association of Dutch Municipalities Jan van Zanen announced on Thursday
The Dutch government is giving municipalities 700 million euros extra this year and next year for asylum seeker integration. The money is intended to be used for education, language lessons and care for asylum seekers
Utrecht is the first city in the Netherlands to start integrating asylum seekers into society from their first day in the city. The city wants to put an end to the current practice of asylum applicants being moved about and integration starting late. "When you arrive in Utrecht, you stay in Utrecht", GroenLinks alderman Kees Diepeveen said to the Volkskrant. "This creates peace. For school-age children, being dragged around is very dramatic."
The number of newcomers in the Netherlands that successfully complete the integration program and pass the exam is "alarmingly" low, Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs wrote to Parliament on Wednesday. He launched an investigation into why the program is doing so poorly
Dutch municipalities need hundreds of millions of euros more than the Government is offering them to house and successfully integrate refugees in their cities, according to the four large Dutch cities.
The vast majority of Dutch are open to refugees being housed in their own municipality, according to a survey done by Necker van Naem among more than 7 thousand people.
The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament wants Minster Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs and Integration to examine the use of the terms "allochtoon" and "autochtoon". The parliamentarians feel that people's backgrounds should only be pointed out if it is relevant to solving a particular problem.
The Netherlands and other European countries should only accept asylum seekers who have a chance of finding a job. This selection process is absolutely necessary because Europe can no longer handle the influx of asylum seekers, says Hans de Boer, president of employers organization VNO NCW, in an interview with Dutch newspaper the Telegraaf.
Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan thinks there is no chance of mass sexual assaults like what happened in Cologne, Germany over New Year's happening in his city. Amsterdam residents are "much to nice" to let something like that happen, the mayor said in radio program Dit is de Dag
Frans Timmermans, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and current vice president of the European Commission, thinks that none Dutch people living in the Netherlands or the rest of Europe for three or four generations are in bigger danger of becoming the new underclass than asylum seekers and refugees are, he said to NU.nl following a debate in The Hague on Thursday.
The long drawn-out asylum procedure before asylum seekers find out whether they qualify for refugee status and a residency permit, put them at a disadvantage and threatens to turn them into an impoverished underclass dominated by unemployment and crime, warn the Justice Ministry's Research and Documentation center, the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau and the Scientific Council for Government Policy
Only a third of the refugees who arrived in the Netherlands between 1995 and 1999 have jobs of more than 30 hours a week, according to joint research by the Social and Cultural Planning Office, the Research and Documentation Center and the Scientific Council for Government Policy
PVV leader Geert Wilders is imagining life as Prime Minister after Maurice de Hond's latest poll showed that his party is at 39 virtual seats, 9 seats more than the coalition of VVD and PvdA has combined.
PvdA parliamentarian Ahmed Marcouch wants asylum seekers to visit the Resistance museum, feminist magazine Opzij and gay interest group COC so that they can experience Dutch norms and values first hand. He also wants them to get Dutch language lessons as soon as they arrive in the country.
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