From a friend who is an American Expat living with her husband in a suburb of Amsterdam:
Thanks for the article. Actually, I saw a television news report on the same subject about a year ago (the article must have been based on the tv program or vice versa – as a lot of it was word-for-word the same). Holland is funny in some regards. There are more foreigners than native Dutch in Amsterdam, for example. And yes, there are large segments of the native population that blame the problems of the country on the ‘immigrants’. But, in the past I have reminded friends and coworkers that I, too, am an immigrant. The answer is usually the same: “We don’t mean YOU. You work for a living and contribute to society.” Show me a place where this same discussion doesn’t take place these days. The Cubans in Miami; the Haitians in Belle Glade. Every EU country is flooded with construction workers and prostitutes from Eastern Europe. Even poor African countries get refugees from war-torn neighbors these days.
There are 3 points the article fails to mention that it should. First, the Dutch have always had a certain amount of wanderlust. For the college enrolled or educated, especially between the ages of 20-35, there is a certain prestige in working outside the borders, especially overseas. Ex-pat jobs are almost the brass ring of the corporate world, but in recent years, they have become more and more difficult to find. Companies are no longer willing to foot the entire bill to give employees the privilege of working in another country. However, they will make jobs available, just without paying more than a normal wage for the job. Now, if you move to another country to work, normally you have to register with the government of the foreign country and TADA! you can be classified as an immigrant. Are you really, though? If it’s only the intention to work for a few years and then go back home, you haven’t really settled, have you?
The second point is just the sheer irony of the damn thing. Dutch are leaving Holland because they are fed up with too many immigrants. So what do they do? Go to another country and become the same problem that was their reason for leaving the Netherlands the first place. Guess it’s okay when it’s someone else’s problem, huh?
The third point that should have been mentioned is the rising anti-immigrant sentiment throughout many EU countries. There is a rise in conservative parties and more and more nationalistic ones are getting elected every year. Even countries like Belgium and Denmark (Denmark???) have ultra conservatives gaining popularity. About 5 years ago, a Dutch politician named Pim Fortuyn rose very quickly in power. He was openly gay, very charismatic and one of his most famous quotes was “Holland is full” — meaning no more immigrants. Of course, he was gunned down in a parking lot, by an environmentalist of all things, but dead is dead. His party was elected, but fell apart without him there to lead. Yet, with all this anti-immigrant sentiment, people are still relocating in record numbers. A little paradox there, huh. Guess it all comes down to the old song: “The English hate the French, the Germans hate the Dutch, and I don’t like anybody very much…”
BTW – the lead story on msnbc.com today: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17954186/
Guess all that stuff about global problems is pretty much right on the money.
