The Netherlands: Discrimination in the Name of Integration

Migrants’ Rights under the Integration Abroad ActIn the past years, the authorities in the Netherlands have introduced a series of measures with the stated aim of better integrating its migrant population. One of these measures is the integration test administered to would-be family migrants from some countries before they can join spouses or family members in the Netherlands. This report documents how the overseas integration test is discriminatory, in that citizens from certain countries are exempt altogether, and the test, coupled with increased financial requirements, targets primarily would-be family migrants from two of the three largest “non- western” migrant communities in the Netherlands – Moroccans and Turks.


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That's Migrants’ Rights under the Integration Abroad Act .The state has a legitimate interest in controlling immigration, and European human rights law provides no absolute right to live as a family in a particular country. But a significant delay in family reunification or formation can violate the right to family life for the family member living in the Netherlands if the strength of ties that person has in the country makes it unreasonable to give up that life and move elsewhere to be together with his and her family member, especially if the person was born in the Netherlands and/or has lived there for a significant portion of his or her life.