According to a survey released by Statistics Netherlands, 700,000 Dutch citizens have plans to leave the country for at least eight months. Many of the those contemplating emigration are young people and first and second generation immigrants. Nine percent of the men and five percent of the women between 18 and 62 years of age want to emigrate.
The number of emigrants has risen sharply in recent years. On average, around 125,000 people left the Netherlands between 2006 and 2008 each year, the largest number since the early 1950s. Demographer Jan Latten of Statistics Netherlands expects the number of people leaving the country to remain above 100,000 during the coming years. According to the CBS, since 2003 the Netherlands has been the only country in Western Europe where the number of emigrants outnumbers the number of immigrants.
Mr Latten points out that emigration has grown substantially in the past 20 years. One reason, he says, is the European Union’s policy of open borders.
Education and work
Most of the native Dutch, would-be emigrants are young people, many of whom would like to live in Australia and the United States. Education and work are the most important reasons given for leaving. However, many view their departure as a temporary thing and intend to return to the Netherlands. Mr Latten says ¨It has become increasingly common for students to do their traineeship abroad, or to live in another country for a certain period of time.¨
Homesickness
Around a third of those above the age of 30 expect to leave the Netherlands for good. They say they are looking for more space, quiet, nature and a peaceful atmosphere. They find the Netherlands too crowded and too busy. Among the countries on their list are Belgium, France, Spain and Surinam.
Some first and second generation immigrants also have plans to leave the country for good: 18 percent compared to 7 percent among native Dutch. "Many migrants who have settled in the Netherlands suffer from homesickness," Mr Latten explains, "they want to go back to Morocco or Turkey."
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RNW translation (NC)
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there has been a time that I was so terribly homesick that the only option for my husband, new born baby and myself was to return to Holland. I was much younger then, living in Australia without any family or friends of my own. thinking back I realize now that the culture shock must have been enormous! we left Holland because we felt that it was getting very crowded. the mentality had changed with the influx of migrants. intolerance, disrespect for each other, very confrontational anti-social behavior, high cost of living, lack of greenery, housing and weather played a big part in our decision. we are happy now and often we think we have it all. we have been very very lucky and homesickness, no neither of us suffers from that, amazing...but then we're much older too!
we left Holland right after our retirement and our choice seems to have been a good one. we had already traveled extensively, hence seeing a lot of the world, probably in the "good time". returning to Holland is no option for us but we do stay in touch, via skype, with those we left behind. the Dutch community is not big here and those we know have embraced the Malay life whole-heartily too. we too have a lot of greenery around us, as a matter of fact we live right against the jungle with all its beauty in flora and fauna. it is quite common to see wild boars looking over the edge of the ravine or to have a visit from the long-tail makak's. I regularly have to "rescue" cobra's and their baby's which seem to have a love our garage entrance. before we started living in the condo we're now the guards used to call the fire brigade. if the guards felt "brave" they would beat the poor creatures to death and not call the fire brigade at all! I've made a difference by sort of bribing them. my husband and I love our lives here, interacting with the Malay is interesting! and our future, exploring Sarawak/Borneo. we've just "finished" Sabah/Borneo after 11 years.
I am a migrant from the Netherlands who came to Aotearoa New Zealand. I wanted to leave and see more of the world, build my own life, be independent and have greenery around me. I feel like I belong here although I won't say that I'll never return to the Netherlands. It still is and will always be my home, and my family and friends are there. NZ is an easy country to live in and most people settle in pretty well. There is a big Dutch community here, which dispite blending in really well, still values it's Dutch heritage. I like my life here and for now it is good, but who knows what the future might bring.
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