Many Dutch people think that the entry of foreigners into the country should be restricted because there are not enough apartments for everyone. The universities’ international degree programs also receive criticism.
AMSTERDAM / LEIDEN Immigration and expensive housing are on the minds of the Dutch during the parliamentary elections to be held tomorrow, Wednesday. The housing crisis can be seen especially in the daily lives of young Dutch people.
– Young people can’t afford apartments, and that’s why they end up living with us, their parents, from Leiden Lisa Bavelaar describes the situation.
According to Bavelaar, the liberal prime minister Mark Rutten governments led by have not succeeded in curbing the housing crisis. He hopes the situation will change after the elections.
The housing shortage in the Netherlands has worsened significantly during the current year. According to estimates, around 400,000 new apartments should be built.
The current government has promised to build 900,000 apartments by 2030. However, the high price of raw materials and environmental standards related to construction slow down new construction.
Many also see the internationalization of the Netherlands as the background of the housing crisis, which attracts work-related immigrants, students and asylum seekers to the country.
– I would hope that all people could find a place where they can live safely, freely and without worries. However, at some point the countries are full and we have to think about how we support our own citizens, Jenthe Sijm ponders.
Students are put on the nose of a stick
The effects of the housing crisis are also visible in Dutch higher education institutions. According to the Association of Dutch Universities a quarter of the country’s 340,000 students are currently foreigners. From first year students about 40 percent are foreigners.
In the opinion of many, the internationalization of universities has gone too far.
– There are many international students in Holland, and local students do not always have a positive attitude towards them, a master’s degree student at the University of Amsterdam Sara Gestrin says.
According to Gestrin, the reason behind the criticism of foreign students is primarily the lack of housing. Some of the Dutch students struggling with housing concerns feel that foreign students currently take up too much space.
The situation upsets Gestrin. According to him, the problems of housing policy should not be blamed on international students.
Opposition to immigration has a long tradition
A British citizen living in The Hague is of the same opinion Thomas Ansell. According to him, the discussion forgets the benefits that internationalization brings to Dutch higher education and society.
– This has led to the fact that the country of 17 million people has many popular and high-quality universities. This would be a good thing, he states.
According to Ansell, the debate surrounding immigration is more generally related to the rise of populist parties in Europe. In the case of the Netherlands, however, it is not a new phenomenon.
– If we look at the history of the Netherlands over the past thirty or forty years, there have always been relatively strong anti-immigration movements in the country.
Will the immigration policy be tightened?
The NSC party (Nieuw Sociaal Contract), a newcomer to the Dutch party scene, wants to limit the number of new entrants to a fraction of the current number.
Party leader By Pieter Omtzigt according to which no more than 50,000 new people can be admitted to the Netherlands per year. The number includes both asylum seekers and foreigners moving for work or studies.
The goals of the NSC party would limit immigration significantly from the current level: last year more than 1,000 people immigrated to the Netherlands 400,000 peoplewith the difference between immigration and emigration being 224,000 people.
According to opinion polls, the party that combines left-wing economic policy and a strict immigration line is fighting for the position of the largest party in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections.
The election affects the Dutch EU line
Those struggling to win the election also leave their positions Mark Rutten the center-liberal VVD party and ex-commissioner Frans Timmermans led by the red-green coalition.
The future government base will most likely be based on two large parties. Holland will therefore get either a center-left or a center-right government.
Associate Professor at Leiden University Simon Otjes estimates that a center-right government built on the basis of the NSC and VVD would aim for a less ambitious climate policy and a tightening of immigration policy.
According to him, the centre-right government would also try to continue the strict economic line represented by the Netherlands in EU decision-making.
– Both of them [VVD ja NSC] are fiscally conservative parties. They don’t want an income transfer union from the EU.
On the other hand, it would be more difficult for the NSC and the red-green coalition to reach an agreement on a common EU line, Otjes estimates.