I have been speaking with few of my Dutch friends and they are quite worried about the rioting which is happening in Amsterdam. I wrote about this earlier here about how Netherlands is getting hit by Islamist violence and terrorism and as it seems, the impact is getting further widespread.
But there is a different angle as well. Shri Ashok Chowgule kindly forwarded me this news story by an Indian Journalist talking about the Indians in Netherlands. Very thought provoking. Some extracts:
India is shining in the Netherlands which covets its market and workforce. But Dutch society is in ferment over immigration, which begs the question: How long before the Indian workforce faces the integration test?
Yet the queen, accompanied by the CEOs of eight Dutch companies, is to visit India after 21 years. The interregnum is when India, in the eyes of the Netherlands, changed from being a pre-liberalisation basket case to a post-liberalisation economic wunderkind coveted for its market and knowledge workforce. A Dutch official put it candidly: "We need a market
and a workforce. You need investments and employment avenues. We both win."
The perceived attractions of emerging India have in fact meant a relaxation in the till-now tight Dutch immigration policy. In March this year, the Social and Economic Council of Netherlands advised changing the labour migration policy - from a strict "no, unless" to a more
lenient "yes, provided that." Yet it is not a uniform lowering of barriers. The "yes" policy is reserved for knowledge and highly skilled workers, both of whom are in plentiful supply in India. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen confirmed to the Indian press group that visa
and permit procedures had been accelerated for these categories; indeed that Indians already accounted for 30 per cent of skilled migrants into Holland.
Obviously, the policy continues to tilt towards a "no" for the lower-end potential immigrants - hardly any from India but a sizeable number from the Middle East. Not just this. The red carpet rolled out to Indian tech workers contrasts sharply with the way the Netherlands has been treating its own citizens of Moroccan and Turk descent. The same people who brightened up at the mention of India, applauding the Indian workers' discipline and exemplary behaviour while on Dutch soil, barely concealed their animosity towards these two ethnic groups, which were typecast as difficult, and stubbornly different.
The positive Dutch attitude to potential Indian immigrants stems partly from India's upgraded international standing. And partly from the conviction that Indians, disciplined and hard working as they are, will easily adjust to the Dutch way of life. India is so much the current
flavour that Dutch citizens of Surinami-Indian origin are today identifying less with Surinam and the Netherlands than with India, a home they left over a century ago. The Surinami Indians are better off than the Turks and the Moroccans. Yet they have not been fully accepted by a country that constantly asks for evidence of their integration. The community resents this and is betting on a closer identification with India to rid itself of the underdog tag.
India must surely feel flattered by all this. Yet sooner rather than later, the Netherlands will realise that upwardly mobile as Indians are they will not give up their identity. Dutch society is in ferment which begs the question: How long before the Indian workforce faces the integration test?
I think this will need deep thinking on part of the Public as well as the European Muslim population. This isnt the right reaction, I am afraid.
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
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