The Netherlands: from Multiculturalism to Assimilation

Abstract

According to population statistics, 16.5 million people are currently living in the Netherlands, of whom around 9 per cent are officially labelled non-Western ‘ethnic minorities’ mostly, Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese, and Indonesian. The largest categories among them are Surinamese (1.9 per cent), Antilleans/Arubans (0.6 per cent), Turks (1.9 per cent) and Moroccans (1.6 per cent). If we include persons born in the Netherlands with one or two foreign-born parents, the percentage of foreign origin people rises from 9 per cent to 17 per cent. This implies that nearly one out of six persons in the Netherlands is an immigrant, or has immigrant parents, which is almost the same as the levels in the United States. The largest numbers of immigrants to the Netherlands come from Morocco and Turkey. Youngsters of both groups still tend to choose their spouses from their countries of origin. The Dutch fear that very soon Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague will be dominated by migrants. Rotterdam is now 50 per cent minority, and already 65 per cent of primary and secondary students in Rotterdam and Amsterdam are of non-Dutch origin. Dutch-Muslims have significantly higher birth rates than native Dutch, whose population is ageing and shrinking. Coupled with low birth rates and an ageing population, it is reported that the Dutch population is expected to drop if something is not done.