Immigrants will also have to pass a mandatory Dutch language exam. Construction of cheap housing will cease completely. To "achieve the right social balance", the authorities intend to build luxury homes in the first place. The police promise to "deport from the city antisocial elements and illegal immigrants".
The Rotterdam authorities decided to act unilaterally against "superfluous people" - without waiting for approval of the law "On quotas for settling immigrants", which is being considered by the Dutch parliament. This document proposes, if necessary, forcibly relocating immigrants from districts where their numbers exceed the limits deemed acceptable by the authorities.
Deputies had hoped that the new law would prevent a "ghetto" system for foreigners in large cities. But the debate in parliament dragged on, and Rotterdam decided to take the initiative. "The high concentration of immigrants reduces the economic development prospects of many neighborhoods," says the mayor of one of the city's districts, Dominic Schrijer. Demographic forecasts prepared at his request showed that in Rotterdam districts, where the number of native residents was 50% in 2003, by 2017 only 14% of ethnic Dutch would remain. And this does not take into account new migrants continuing to arrive in the country.
Supporters of the law "On quotas" believe that foreign settlers do not assimilate, as expected, among the country's native residents. On the contrary, they form a kind of communities in cities, where they preserve their previous habits, traditions and way of life.
The white population of the Netherlands behaves in the same way, reluctantly letting immigrants into its territory. In the eyes of local residents, Rotterdam appears roughly divided into two equal parts: one belongs to the native population, the other to newcomers. But this situation does not suit everyone: Dutch middle-class families are fleeing the city. These people no longer want to stay in a metropolis overcrowded with poor immigrants.
According to forecasts of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, from 1995 to 2050 the number of indigenous residents will significantly decrease in almost all European states. Scientists assert that, taking into account the migration rates necessary for EU countries, immigrants and their descendants will make up from 30% to 39% of the population in Germany, Italy and Holland by 2050. Moreover, in large cities this figure could reach 60%.
Pim Fortuyn, the leader of the Dutch nationalists, was the first to call for the use of "mild violence" to resettle foreigners from big cities to rural areas in his campaign speeches. His speeches were not in vain - the previously unknown party "List Pim Fortuyn" entered parliament. True, Fortuyn himself was killed two months before the elections. "He would have been proud of us," says one of the initiators of the "Rotterdam experiment", Ronald Sorensen. "This problem has existed for 30 years, and so far no one has had the courage to solve it. Fortuyn had that courage, but he died."
Today party leaders deny that their goal is to force immigrants to leave their neighborhoods. "People live where they live, and we do not force anyone to move immediately. Our proposals apply only to newly arrived foreigners, who should be evenly distributed throughout Holland," explains one of the party's leaders, Henk Sonneveld.
Some politicians propose allocating money to foreigners who voluntarily move from large cities to other regions of the Netherlands. But these initiatives draw criticism from regions that are already worried about the influx of the poorest immigrants to their territories. As public opinion polls show, the indigenous residents of the land of tulips still prefer to live in "reservations" isolated from foreigners and are in no hurry to change their habits.