Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan has written to the Lower House in The Hague that he wants to increase the demands made on immigrants. "Immigration means you're opting for the Netherlands," he writes, explaining that immigrants should have a desire to participate in society and that they should speak the language.

Mr Van der Laan says immigrants are morally obliged to adapt, and told parliament he would like to say to immigrants, "If you're coming over here, it's up to you to make your future into a success."

Limits
The Integration Minister did not skirt around sensitive issues in his letter to MPs. "We also have to open our eyes to the limits of what Dutch society can support. I've seen schools where 98 percent of the pupils are of immigrant origin. Teachers there are looking exhausted. We have to support those teachers, family doctors and policemen, because they won't sustain this forever."

In his letter Minister Van der Laan avoids the commonly used terminology of "native" and "non-native" citizens. Instead, he refers to "new Netherlanders". The old terms emphasise someone's origins, while "new Netherlanders" better expresses that people belong here, according to the minister.

On the way up
Recent figures quoted by the minister show that immigrant integration in society is slowly improving. Over the past ten years, the number of people of immigrant origin who are in employment has increased by 10 percent, and the number of non-native or "new-Dutch" entrepreneurs has risen by 40 percent.

Dutch Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan (ANP Photo)