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More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales

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Chiefram

More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/international/europe/27dutch.html?ex=1110171600&en=d6582f891be6b650&ei=5070

Here is the text of the article

February 27, 2005
More Dutch Plan to Emigrate as Muslim Influx Tips Scales
By MARLISE SIMONS
AMSTERDAM - Paul Hiltemann had already noticed a darkening mood in the Netherlands. He runs an agency for people wanting to emigrate and his client list had surged.

But he was still taken aback in November when a Dutch filmmaker was shot and his throat was slit, execution style, on an Amsterdam street.

In the weeks that followed, Mr. Hiltemann was inundated by e-mail messages and telephone calls. "There was a big panic," he said, "a flood of people saying they wanted to leave the country."

Leave this stable and prosperous corner of Europe? Leave this land with its generous social benefits and ample salaries, a place of fine schools, museums, sports grounds and bicycle paths, all set in a lively democracy?

The answer, increasingly, is yes. This small nation is a magnet for immigrants, but statistics suggest there is a quickening flight of the white middle class. Dutch people pulling up roots said they felt a general pessimism about their small and crowded country and about the social tensions that had grown along with the waves of newcomers, most of them Muslims."The Dutch are living in a kind of pressure cooker atmosphere," Mr. Hiltemann said.

There is more than the concern about the rising complications of absorbing newcomers, now one-tenth of the population, many of them from largely Muslim countries. Many Dutch also seem bewildered that their country, run for decades on a cozy, political consensus, now seems so tense and prickly and bent on confrontation. Those leaving have been mostly lured by large English-speaking nations like Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where they say they hope to feel less constricted.

In interviews, emigrants rarely cited a fear of militant Islam as their main reason for packing their bags. But the killing of the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, a fierce critic of fundamentalist Muslims, seems to have been a catalyst.

"Our Web site got 13,000 hits in the weeks after the van Gogh killing," said Frans Buysse, who runs an agency that handles paperwork for departing Dutch. "That's four times the normal rate."

Mr. van Gogh's killing is the only one the police have attributed to an Islamic militant, but since then they have reported finding death lists by local Islamic militants with the names of six prominent politicians. The effects still reverberate. In a recent opinion poll, 35 percent of the native Dutch questioned had negative views about Islam.

There are no precise figures on the numbers now leaving. But Canadian, Australian and New Zealand diplomats here said that while immigration papers were processed in their home capitals, embassy officials here had been swamped by inquiries in recent months.

Many who settle abroad may not appear in migration statistics, like the growing contingent of retirees who flock to warmer places. But official statistics show a trend. In 1999, nearly 30,000 native Dutch moved elsewhere, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. For 2004, the provisional figure is close to 40,000. "It's definitely been picking up in the past five years," said Cor Kooijmans, a demographer at the bureau.

Ruud Konings, an accountant, has just sold his comfortable home in the small town of Hilvarenbeek. In March, after a year's worth of paperwork, the family will leave for Australia. The couple said the main reason was their fear for the welfare and security of their two teenage children.

"When I grew up, this place was spontaneous and free, but my kids cannot safely cycle home at night," said Mr. Konings, 49. "My son just had his fifth bicycle stolen." At school, his children and their friends feel uneasy, he added. "They're afraid of being roughed up by the gangs of foreign kids."

Sandy Sangen has applied to move to Norway with her husband and two school-age children. They want to buy a farm in what she calls "a safer, more peaceful place."

Like the Sangens and Koningses, others who are moving speak of their yearning for the open spaces, the clean air, the easygoing civility they feel they have lost. Complaints include overcrowding, endless traffic jams, overregulation. Some cite a rise in antisocial behavior and a worrying new toughness and aggression both in political debates and on the streets.

Until the killing of Pim Fortuyn, a populist anti-immigration politician, in 2002 and the more recent slaying of a teacher by a student, this generation of Dutch people could not conceive of such violence in their peaceful country.

After Mr. van Gogh's killing, angry demonstrations and fire-bombings of mosques and Muslim schools took place. In revenge, some Christian churches were attacked. Mr. Konings said he and many of his friends sensed more confrontation in the making, perhaps more violence.

"I'm a great optimist, but we're now caught in a downward spiral, economically and socially," he said. "We feel we can give our children a better start somewhere else."

Marianne and Rene Aukens, from the rural town of Brunssum, had successful careers, he as director of a local bank, she as a personnel manager. But after much thought they have applied to go to New Zealand. "In my lifetime, all the villages around here have merged, almost all the green spaces have been paved over," said Mr. Aukens, 41. "Nature is finished. There's no more silence; you hear traffic everywhere."

The saying that the Netherlands is "full up" has become a national mantra. It was used cautiously at first, because it had an overtone of being anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim. But many of those interviewed now state it flatly, like Peter Bles. He makes a long commute to a banking job in Amsterdam, but he and his wife are preparing to move to Australia.

"We found people are more polite, less stressed, less aggressive there," Mr. Bles said. "Perhaps stress has a lot to do with the lack of living space. Here we are full up."

Space is indeed at a premium here in Europe's most densely populated nation, where 16.3 million people live in an area roughly the size of Maryland. Denmark, which is slightly larger, has 5.5 million people. Dutch demographers say their country has undergone one of Europe's fastest and most far-reaching demographic shifts, with about 10 percent of the population now foreign born, a majority of them Muslims.

Blaming immigrants for many ills has become commonplace. Conservative Moroccans and Turks from rural areas are accused of disdaining the liberal Dutch ways and of making little effort to adapt. Immigrant youths now make up half the prison population. More than 40 percent of immigrants receive some form of government assistance, a source of resentment among native Dutch. Immigrants say, though, that they are widely discriminated against.

Ms. Konings said the Dutch themselves brought on some of the social frictions. The Dutch "thought that we had to adapt to the immigrants and that we had to give them handouts," she said. "We've been too lenient; now it's difficult to turn the tide."

To Mr. Hiltemann, the emigration consultant, what is remarkable is not only the surge of interest among the Dutch in leaving, but also the type of people involved. "They are successful people, I mean, urban professionals, managers, physiotherapists, computer specialists," he said. Five years ago, he said, most of his clients were farmers looking for more land.

Mr. Buysse, who employs a staff of eight to process visas, concurred. He said farmers were still emigrating as Europe cut agricultural subsidies. '"What is new," he said, "is that Dutch people who are rich or at least very comfortable are now wanting to leave the country."
#1 - 02-03-2005, 15:46 uur

visuar

True true!

Deze "computer specialist" wil ook weg ;)
#2 - 02-03-2005, 16:22 uur
Groetjes! Rob
Geen geluk DV-2006 & 2007. Op naar DV-2008 :)

Chiefram

Mr. Buysse, who employs a staff of eight to process visas, concurred. He said farmers were still emigrating as Europe cut agricultural subsidies. '"What is new," he said, "is that Dutch people who are rich or at least very comfortable are now wanting to leave the country."


Precies dat laatste slaat op ons... Wij waren niet rijk, maar leefden wel heel komfortable in Nederland en zijn ook werkelijk vertrokken...  :-\
#3 - 02-03-2005, 16:55 uur

TigersFan

Tsja, ik ook. Maar comfortabel wil nog niet zeggen 'content' of zelfs 'at home', toch? Je levensgeluk is niet afhankelijk van een lease auto en IKEA meubels ook al rijden en zitten ze lekker. Je ergens honder procent op je plaats voelen en eigenlijk al heel je leven het gevoel hebben dat de VS hét land voor jou is, heeft het voor mij doen besluiten, niet een stel rare snuiters met waanideeen, da's voor hun teveel eer. Dat zou betekenen dat als die angst weg is, ik dan terug zou willen. Dacht het niet he?
#4 - 04-03-2005, 17:03 uur

Chiefram

Dat is ook wel waar.

Elke keer als wij met vakantie naar Amerika gingen, dan voelden we ons meer 'thuis' komen dan op vakantie zijn. De terugweg naar Nederland was altijd een hele nare ervaring geweest, alsof we iets tegen ons zin moesten doen. (Was ook wel zo natuurlijk, haha).

Nee, al zouden er in Nederland gouden bergens staan en Beatrix (hoe graag ik haar ook mag) zou mij en mijn gezin persoonlijk opvangen in haar Paleis voor de eerst komende periode tot we gesetteld zijn, dan nog zou ik niet terug gaan.

Dit was een juiste keus en dat merken we elke dag. Nog niet een sekonde heimwee gehad naar familie of vrienden. (Sorry als ze dit lezen, het is niet persoonlijk bedoeld natuurlijk, hahaha).
#5 - 04-03-2005, 21:51 uur

heivalido

Dit verhaal is niet onze reden om te vertrekken, wij wilde dit al lang voor al deze ellende. Wel moet ik bekennen dat het het allemaal nog wel makkelijker maakt om alles hier achter te laten. Nu hadden we hier niet overdreven veel, een huurflatje en een leuke occasion en in de USA komen we na alle kosten voor de emigratie met nog minder binnen maar ik ben toch echt blij dat we vertrekken.  8)
#6 - 04-03-2005, 21:58 uur

Chiefram

Je hebt hier in een mum van een tijd alles nog beter voor elkaar dan dat je in Nederland ooit voor elkaar zou hebben gekregen!

Dat heb ik hier wel gemerkt... het gaat hier veel en veel gemakkelijker. Dus wees gerust, nog een paar maanden en jullie wonen als God in Florida!  ;D ;)
#7 - 04-03-2005, 22:06 uur

ejb

Dit verhaal is niet onze reden om te vertrekken, wij wilde dit al lang voor al deze ellende. Wel moet ik bekennen dat het het allemaal nog wel makkelijker maakt om alles hier achter te laten. Nu hadden we hier niet overdreven veel, een huurflatje en een leuke occasion en in de USA komen we na alle kosten voor de emigratie met nog minder binnen maar ik ben toch echt blij dat we vertrekken.  8)
Ben het helemaal met je eens, wij hadden ook al een hele tijd het idee dat Amerika veel beter bij ons zou passen en sinds we er geweest zijn weten we ook zeker dat dat inderdaad zo is. Maar hoe de maatschappij hier steeds verder achteruit gaat maakt het makkelijker om te gaan, je bent nog meer dan eerst bereid alles op te geven en achter te laten....nu alleen nog even de DV winnen natuurlijk   :-\;D
#8 - 05-03-2005, 12:25 uur



heivalido

En zolang je blijft volhouden en niet opgeeft, moet ook dit een keer goedkomen. Succes Ejb
#9 - 06-03-2005, 12:27 uur

ejb

En zolang je blijft volhouden en niet opgeeft, moet ook dit een keer goedkomen. Succes Ejb
We houden zeker vol, dank voor je succes wensen. Jullie een hele goede vlucht morgen ennu...kan niet wachten om te horen hoe jullie ervaringen aan de andere kant van de oceaan zijn.
#10 - 06-03-2005, 12:34 uur



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