Netherlands: 'Moroccan-municipalities' not committing to goals

Netherlands: 'Moroccan-municipalities' not committing to goals

14 of the 22 'Moroccan-municipalities' don't want to commit to clear goals on reducing the crime rate, dropout-rate and unemployment of Moroccan-Dutch youth.

Outgoing minister Van Middelkoop (Integration) will now settle for the promise that the municipalities will 'ensure a downwards trend in the over-representation of Moroccan-Dutch youth in school dropout, unemployment and crime [rates] within two and a half years.'


This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog - islamineurope.blogspot.com


The state and the 22 municipalities - with many Moroccan-Dutch youth at risk - signed a declaration of intent in June 2009 to work together to deal with the problems. In January, the 22 municipalities were supposed to present their plans for the coming years, and in April they were supposed to make commit to dates.

It turns out that many communities don't want to be pinned down."The experiences of previous subsidies and experiments taught us that too often people have expectations which are too ambitious which are not met in practice," says the report that the ministry sent to parliament. No percentages as a means of pressure.

Parliament member Jeroen Dijsselbloem (PvdA) says it's 'unacceptable' that municipalities don't want to formulate concrete goals for the extra money. "The problem of harassment and crime by Moroccan-Dutch youth is tough and has a negative effect on society. If you don't propose goals, for example, that the number of incidents of serious harassment and group crime be halved in two years, you can't determine later whether the extra efforts made sense," says Dijsselbloem.

Twenty two municipalities that have big problems with Moroccan-Dutch youth (15-25 years old) were allocated extra money: 7 million annually. It is remarkable that despite the extra money half of those municipalities do not want to introduce a specific policy for the group.

A spokesperson for the ministry says that the municipalities are responsible for the results. The progress and the results are discussed annually with the municipalities. "The way in which goals are set is a local responsibility and differs per municipality."

Source: Trouw (Dutch)

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