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January 21, 2006
How Barbaric! How...Insensitive!
From the Brussels Journal (thanks to Andrew Stuttaford):
“From 1 March onwards people who want to settle in the Netherlands (e.g. to join family members or to marry someone living there) will have to pass a preliminary test at the Dutch embassy in their country of origin. In this so-called “integration test” the immigrants have to prove that they have sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language and the geography, history and political system of the Netherlands. The fee for taking the test is 350 euros. Those who do not pass are not allowed to enter the Netherlands. Those who do pass have only taken the first hurdle. After their arrival in the Netherlands they will have to pass a second – more difficult – exam. The exams are part of a bill proposed by Rita Verdonk, the Minister for lntegration. The Dutch House of Representatives approved the bill on Thursday. The Dutch Senate had done so last month.”
Sounds great to me, but I wonder how much the Dutch economy depends upon immigrant labor. France and Germany might well have to decide between economic reform (i.e. giving up short work weeks, long vacations and early retirements) aimed at restoring productivity, and tolerating an increasingly disaffected and unassimilated population of immigrant workers.
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