Foreign Policy Blogs

Integrating Immigrant Communities

After the riots in the French suburbs in 2007 (not to mention 2005), Olivier Roy , an expert on Islam and politics , said, "what these guys want is integration." In a presentation of his book (published the same year), Secularism Confronts Islam, Olivier Roy discussed the "tools" of integration. With respect to the situation in Holland, Roy said, "After 9/11, after the assassination of Theo Van Gogh, suddenly there is a feeling in Europe that [assimilation and multiculturalism], in fact did fail. That multiculturalism is not working or is heading towards very negative side effects, and on the other hand, assimilation in France has created problems , not created, but has opened the door for polemics about what is the place, what is the role for religion in the French public place."

 This month, Human Rights Watch has released a report titled "The Netherlands: Discrimination in the Name of Integration."  The research looks at measures instituted by the authorities in the Netherlands "with the stated aim of better integrating its migrant population." One of the measures is the overseas integration test, which aims to have new immigrants integrate into the Dutch culture before arriving in Holland. The test primarily targets the migrants from two of the three largest immigrant communities in Holland , Moroccans and Turks. These communities have specifically been under greater pressure because of allegations that they do not integrate. "The main targets for these attacks have been Muslim communities, especially Turks and Moroccans." Human Rights Watch has found that the integration test is discriminatory on the grounds that it is not required from all immigrant communities and the costs of taking the test abroad may pose an excessive financial burden (indirect discrimination). 

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