THE NETHERLANDS and Literature Survey
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Muslims in the EU: Cities Report Preliminary research report THE NETHERLANDS and literature survey 2007 Researchers: Froukje Demant (MA), Marcel Maussen (MA), Prof. Dr. Jan Rath Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES) Open Society Institute Muslims in the EU - Cities Report EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program The Netherlands Table of contents Background............................................................................................................................... 5 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 6 Part I: Research and literature on Muslims .......................................................................... 9 1. Population ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 A note on the terminology and statistics ...................................................................... 9 1.2 Patterns of immigration.............................................................................................. 10 1.3 Citizenship.................................................................................................................. 13 2. Identity and religiosity................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Religosity.................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Radicalisation of Muslim young people..................................................................... 15 2.3 Indicators on “happiness”........................................................................................... 16 3. Education ........................................................................................................................ 18 3.1 Educational achievement level................................................................................... 18 3.2 Experiences of discrimination in the educational system .......................................... 19 3.3 Islamic education and Muslim faith-based schools.................................................... 20 4. Employment.................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 Employment and unemployment levels ..................................................................... 22 4.2 Discrimination in the labour market........................................................................... 23 5 Housing............................................................................................................................. 24 5.1 Patterns of settlement ................................................................................................. 24 5. 2 Interaction between immigrants and native Dutch.................................................... 24 6 Health and social protection........................................................................................... 26 6.1 Health situation of immigrants................................................................................... 26 6.2 Care for the elderly..................................................................................................... 26 7. Policing and security ...................................................................................................... 28 7.1 Representation of people with an immigrant background in the police force............ 28 7.2 Criminality and victims of crime................................................................................ 29 7.3 Prisons ........................................................................................................................ 29 8. Discrimination and anti-Muslim discourse and mobilisation .................................... 30 8.1 Discrimination............................................................................................................ 30 9 Participation and citizenship.......................................................................................... 33 9.1 Political participation ................................................................................................. 33 9.2 Civil society................................................................................................................ 34 9.3 Attitudes of the public authorities towards Muslim organisations and institutions ... 36 Part II: Policy Context........................................................................................................... 38 1. Perception of Muslims ................................................................................................... 38 1.1 Inter-ethnic relations................................................................................................... 38 1.2 Political debate ........................................................................................................... 39 2. Integration policy and governance of diversity ........................................................... 42 2.1 Governance of religious diversity and State–Church relations in The Netherlands .. 42 2.3 Immigrant integration policies ................................................................................... 43 3. Administrative structures.............................................................................................. 47 3.1 The local authorities ................................................................................................... 47 Part III: City Selection........................................................................................................... 51 2 Open Society Institute Muslims in the EU - Cities Report EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program The Netherlands 1. Amsterdam...................................................................................................................... 51 1.1 Population and Islamic organisations and institutions ............................................... 51 1.2 Policies concerning the Muslim population ............................................................... 51 1.3 Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 53 2. Rotterdam ....................................................................................................................... 55 2.1 Population and Islamic organisations and institutions ............................................... 55 2.2 Policies concerning the Muslim population ............................................................... 55 2.3 Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 57 3. Utrecht and Zaanstad .................................................................................................... 59 3.1 Utrecht........................................................................................................................ 59 3.2 Zaanstad...................................................................................................................... 60 3 Open Society Institute Muslims in the EU - Cities Report EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program The Netherlands List of tables Table 1: Ethnic breakdown of the Muslim population (allochtonen) List of acronyms and abbreviations CBS Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (Central Statistical Agency) CGB Equal Treatment Commission (Commissie Gelijke Behandeling) CDA Christian-Democratic Appeal (Christen-Democratisch Appel) Party D66 Democrats ’66 (Democraten ’66) GA Amsterdam Municipality (Gemeente Amsterdam) GL Green Left Party (Groen Links) GR Rotterdam Municipality (Gemeente Rotterdam) GU Utrecht Municipality (Gemeente Utrecht) LBR The National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (Landelijk Bureau ter bestrijding van rassendiscriminatie) PvdA Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid) SP Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij) VVD People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) 4 Open Society Institute Muslims in the EU - Cities Report EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program The Netherlands Background This research paper, focusing on the situation of Muslims in the Netherlands, was commissioned by the EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)1, of the Open Society Institute (OSI).2 Similar reports have also been prepared for Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK. The overall aim of this series of research papers is to provide a comprehensive review of available research and literature on Muslims in each of these countries, including a bibliography covering the most relevant recent publications. Another aim is to facilitate the selection of a number of EU cities for inclusion in a proposed new OSI monitoring project to be initiated in 2007 — “Muslims in the EU: Cities Reports”. This project will address policy on Muslims at the city, or municipal, level, as opposed to the national level, which is the more usual level of analysis for cross-country monitoring. It follows on from previous EUMAP reports addressing the situation of Muslims in Europe, in particular the 2004 report Muslims in the UK: Policies for Engaged Citizens.3 Each of the research reports follow the same methodology, to provide comparative information across the countries covered, according to a common methodology prepared by EUMAP.4 Part I of the report evaluates the availability of data and other information on