A new report from the Social and Cultural Planning Office of the Netherlands on how to integrate the immigrant and indigenous Dutch communities makes for depressing reading. Although there are many initiatives aimed at improving contact between the different ethnic groups, it is not clear whether these are proving effective. Moreover, segregation will not be resolved by small-scale initiatives and remains a long-term problem.
The attacks of 11 September 2001, the fear of Islam and the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, which followed the attacks, only added to the feeling of unease in Dutch society. However, the report also indicates that a plethora of local initiatives are attempting to build bridges between the various ethnic groups.
What works, what doesn't?
Dr Mérove Gijsberts, a researcher from the SCP, discovered more than 400 such initiatives while working on the report. Dr Gijsberts says:
"What strikes me is how much enthusiasm there is and how much is being done to bring people together and reduce prejudice, but that there is very little research into what works and what doesn't. But from reading the literature, you can see that activities which originate from shared interests seem to work well."
The SCP is unable to say exactly how effective these projects are. However, Dr Gijsberts is definite about the breadth of support for integration from within society, because many initiatives are the brainchildren of neighbourhood residents themselves.
They include language courses provided by Dutch people for their immigrant neighbours, district parties and setting up 'mothers' centres' run by and for women to familiarise immigrants with where surroundings. One such centre is in Rotterdam. Dr Gijsberts:
"What I find particularly appealing are projects where young people are given a mentor. I also like 'one on one' language projects. In The Hague, women give immigrant women individual language lessons at home. They take their students shopping which helps them learn everyday language."
The evidence points to a large number of initiatives to improve contact between the different ethnic groups. However, the only way to improve the integration of ethnic minorities on a large-scale is to break up concentrations of those minorities. The native Dutch and immigrant communities often live in different neighbourhoods and, for this reason, fail to mix easily.
Mixing natives and immigrants
Only one percent of the native population lives in areas where more than half of the residents are non-Western. The report concludes that it is a good idea to move privileged people to deprived areas. With the proviso that these areas be close to the city centre and that poor housing be cleared and superior housing built.
The report, however, says the last method is not so successful. Moving the privileged to deprived areas and the deprived to privileged areas seems to be more effective. The report also concludes, however, that ghettos are a very stubborn problem, especially in big cities where vacant housing is at a premium.
* RNW translation (mw)