Immigration

[jdcarra]

Last time I was home I was walking on a local beach and was approached by a person who told me that this was a private area and I was not allowed to be there!
This was not a locall who would know me or my family. I smiled politely( hard for me to do) and continued my meander down the beach.

Mary

That would not have been Torrisdale beach by any chance?

[mary,queen of everything]

no jd was not torrisdale. was kilkerran

[Wee Toon Ajax]

Do all those former Campbeltown residents that post on here get treated unfairly in the areas they have chosen to live?
Maybe it's just Campbeltown that has such high expectations on the qualities required for residency.
Who among us can say that everything they do is acceptable to all others?

Interesting point. Have been living in Netherlands for 5 years now and just bought my first house here. Speaking to my makelaar (estate agent) about the effect that ex-pat Brits etc have had on the housing market and was interested by the reply. She was telling me that traditionally the NLs like large parts of Europe was traditionally a rental market but houses were treated as own but since the mid 90s it has changed to a buying market. Part of the reason for this was that the influx of UK citizens were coming over to work and seeing such cheap property that they were buying straight away and has caused big price rises in certain areas, to the detriment of the locals. There are some areas near Amsterdam like Haarlem where huge ex-pat communities live and this has changed the face of the town. Examples being the inevitable Irish bars being opened, a British food shop etc. This has caused a certain amount of hostility towards UK immigrants.

[Wee Toon Ajax]

Its time to wake up and see what is happening everywhere else in europe. Its a free for all. If i had a business and was employing staff, i would employ the most suitable applicants.. not locals... the most suitable applicants. This way i can be sure my business would have a better chance of surviving, as sentiment has no place in business..

Have to disagree with you there - it is not a free for all under any circumstance. Maybe in the UK but not in other countries. If you take for example the freedom of movement for employment it was only UK, Ireland and Sweden that lifted all restrictions on workers from the new EU member states on their acceptance to the EU. That is why there has been the great number of Poles in particular travelling to the UK to find work as they are not allowed to go to other countries in such great numbers to find jobs. We have Poles working in my office who still have to go through the tough migration laws here and get work permits etc. Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain lifted the restrictions on MAY 1st this year. The other countries in particular Germany have not given a date for when freedom of movement for workers will be lifted as they want to look at the long term effects it has on other economies and because they border many former East European countries they are expecting an influx far bigger than the UK has seen.

Regarding not employing locals I disagree with this too for the simple reason language is still a big issue in many countries in particular France and Germany. In these countries being able to speak the language is a huge issue so even in the most basic sweat shop type jobs they will not emply people who cannot speak the language unlike in the UK where they dont seem to care in the low paid jobs. In the Netherlands employers will stick to local candidates over incomers in many industries. They see the incomers as a threat to their culture etc and this comes before profit.

Not every society in the rest of Europe is as greed orientated as in the UK and certain things such as culture, community etc will come before that. Yes, they have to create a profit like any other business but not at all cost to everything else in their lives. In my opinion it is a very sad indictment of the British in that we now look at profit as the be all and end all - we truely are the most capitalist country in Europe - where all conversations concern money. Years ago we talked about the weather, football golf etc now you go into pubs in the toon and folk are talking about their house prices, oh how proud Thatcher must be. But at this moment in time the rest of Europe is most certainly not a free for all, despite what the politicians in Brussels would like to think in their creation of the European super state.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Thought it was interesting. There was an article on the news tonight here in San Antonio where new home builders are putting restrictions on investment buyers. We have a very low cost of housing here compared to many places in the country, and apparently the builders and others are concerned that the investors from outside of the area will buy and be absent owners, leave the place derelict or renting it out, in either case bringing down the value of the property. The restriction in the contract requires anyone buying the houses to be permanent residents of the property.

[Sweltered]

Mortgage market is swamped with "investment" buyers, not just in Tx. My wife works for a mortgage company, in some parts of the country, there are more homes under construction, than have been sold over the last 3 years!

[Christian]

Hey, nog meer Nederlanders!(more Dutch people)

Our minister for integration is very strict, and immigration has decreased quite a lot.

[Beachcomber]

Hey, nog meer Nederlanders!(more Dutch people)

Our minister for integration is very strict, and immigration has decreased quite a lot.

Why is that, Christian? What have they done to make the Netherlands less attractive to settlers than, for arguments sake, the UK?

Given that we're all in the same (EU) boat surely the same rules of benefits and immigration exist across the board?

[Christian]

I don't know how strict immigration law is in the UK. Over here, the rules for getting into the country are quite strict now. The minister also wants people, who want to get in here, to do an immigration test. Some people hate her for her strict rules, other people love her for it.

These are some rules:(from Wiki)

In order to reduce migration through marriage, she has proposed that partners of Dutch citizens are only allowed to immigrate into the Netherlands if the Dutch partner earns more than 120% of the minimum income.
She refused grant a general pardon to around 26,000 asylum seekers who had their asylum application turned down but who have been living in the Netherlands for more than 5 years. Since they had entered the Netherlands before the new Foreigner law, a special arrangement was required. Instead of a general pardon, Verdonk chose a time- and resource-consuming case-by-case approached.
To integrate migrants into the Dutch society, every person who wants to immigrate into the Netherlands must pass an integration test. It tests knowledge of the Dutch language, political system and social conventions. The test must be taken before entering the Netherlands, preferably in a Dutch Embassy in the country of origin. "Oudkomers", migrants who have lived in the Netherlands for a long time, but are not "integrated", are also requested to take the exam. EU nationals, and nationals of various other western nations such as the US, are exempt from these policies. The robustness of this plan has been questioned both by the Council of State, which advises on all proposed laws, as well as the various parties in the parliament including the VVD, her own party

[Christian]

Wow! Our minister is getting even stricter! Immigrants who are 3 years or less in the Netherlands, will be sent back when they commit ANY crime.... For immigrants from 3 to 5 years, beiong sentenced to one month in prison, or three other crimes is enough to be sent back.

[general jack o'niell]

[Christian]

I think it will get VERY busy at Heathrow then

Where are you going to send them anyway? I hope not over here

[Wee Toon Ajax]

I think it will get VERY busy at Heathrow then

Where are you going to send them anyway? I hope not over here

Aye throw them all out ,Christian, - oops forgot I am one as well. But hey I am a white European christian immigrant, so that makes it alright.

Christian, a little word of advice please. This is a forum for the Kintyre area of Scotland and as much as I appreciate your input the last thing I want to hear on a forum for the area I was born into is to listen to a Dutchman spouting on about immigration and how immigrants are spoiling the ever so wonderful Netherlands. I have to listen to this sort of bullshit day in and day out from my white Dutch colleagues and I really dont want to hear it on this forum. I come on hear to get away from the thinly veiled racist crap sprouted by your so called civilised, intelligent countrymen.

Other forum members please excuse me for this outburst but if I hear one more Dutch person try to come out with bollocks about how their country has been spoiled by the euro, EU and immigrants without taking some resposibility themselves for the state their country is in I am going to toss the nearest bicycle riding, cheese munching fool into the canal.

BTW Rita Verdonk is an arse too

[Christian]

Well, first of all, it's a political opinion, which everybody is free to make up for himself. Second, in Britain, there even is a party against Europe, so don't just blaim us Dutch to be anti Europe.

I don't say that immigrants are giving nothing but problems. A lot were imported here by us, because they could do jobs the Dutch didn't want. Many people are afraid though, that too many immigrants will change the society. I don't say that's true, I just say many people think that way.

I disagree about the EU and the Euro, well, the Euro can't be changed anymore, so we'll have to live with that I think. Europe can change however. Like the moving from Brussel to Straatsburg, getting ever more member countries. That can be changed.

If you find Rita Verdonk an ar$e, try Geert Wilders, and that whole bunch of other stupid parties here. We've got a party for animals(they putted every famous Dutchman on their list), we've got a pedo party(although I don't think they have enough support to participate in the coming elections).

Where in NL do you live then?

[Christian]

Ah Amsterdam. Aren't people there thinking you're a tourist? I must say I personally don't like Amsterdam much, it's too crowded and there is too much dirt and weed. I like the cities here in the South better. People are friendlier, more relaxed, and the weather is better too.

Oja, PSV is going to win the cup this year!