Netherlands: Turks suffer from not-belonging
The mental health of Turks in the Netherlands is worse than that of ethnic Dutch and also of Turks in Turkey. The mental condition of Turkish women is even worse than that of men. The biggest reason for this is that Turks don't feel they belong in the Netherlands and continue to regard themselves as migrants: on their way to returning to the fatherland.
That is the conclusion of researcher Murat Can in his thesis 'Welkom thuis! De beleving van migrant zijn' (Welcome home! The experience of being a migrant), which he'll present this month at the University of Tilburg.
Can says that substantial measures are needed in order to decrease the undesirable and, he says, even potentially dangerous, distance between Dutch and Turks.
Source: AD (Dutch)
