Perhaps if Dutch government ministers and the rest of officialdom and the media stopped refering to people who were born here as the dreaded A word it might help!

By Shirley | February 15, 2011 9:18 AM

A failure??? You haven't even tried it yet!!!

Have you ever actually asked immigrants WHY they aren't happy here? Or are you too busy wagging your finger at them and telling them what failures they are? How is that going to instill this so-called pride?

I'll never be "proud" of being Dutch, if I ever become one, just as I'm not "proud" of being Canadian. I just "am". It's just part of me. And after living more than half my life there, it will ALWAYS be part of me, no matter how much inbuggering and finger wagging I have to undergo during my journey towards citizenship. I chose a man, not a country.

By CW | February 15, 2011 9:29 AM

What a opportunistisch copy cat who is only out his own self interest. Monkey see monkey do. What is Multiculturalism?? German, Dutch, Italian, French, American, Canadian, English etc etc. Politicians are getting dumber and dumber! Especially coming from CDA!

By SandraV | February 15, 2011 10:06 AM

I don't suppose any of those politician have offered up a solution for this, since the primary problem is the attitude of the "no longer feeling at home" natives, and the politicians that are exploiting it.

By Valentijn | February 15, 2011 10:07 AM

" like people in the US where they first say they are American and then where they originally come from"

How about stop labling them immigrants then? How can you expect people to integrate fully when you never allow them to have an identity of dutch or 'moroccan-dutch'/ 'turkish-dutch?'.
Tolerance is NOT the same as respect or acceptance.

By mark | February 15, 2011 11:06 AM

...and they're all wrong. It is frightening to me that for a "multiculturalism model" they look to the US. They should learn what it's like to be a Mexican in America - there is not a whole lot of tolerance there! They should look to Canada and their so-called "cultural mosaic" where tolerance and understanding of others is paramount. *This* is what we should strive for, not forced assimilation at all costs.

Not to mention the fact that the population of this planet is exploding. Our leaders should be looking for solutions to our problems for the future, where living with others different than ourselves is unavoidable and should thus be accepted. Unless you have a time machine, stop talking about what has failed and start talking about what has succeeded and move on from there.

By Milk container | February 15, 2011 12:26 PM

so there is this obvious tendency towards populist clowns in politics.

how can we stop this? this will obviously not end well!

By al | February 15, 2011 4:09 PM

Didn't Cameron say the same thing last week? And Merkel last year?

By pepe | February 15, 2011 4:26 PM

this is foolish. our forefathers fought and gave their lives to defend and preserve what we are now destroying. millions of souls perished to deny outsiders entry to our realms, in order to advance ourselves to these stages.

every nation/civilization has done this, yet Europe and her ancient peoples have come out on top in culture, technology, history and strength, only to be brought down by multiculturalism and the Zionist regime that wishes it to conflagrate the entire world.

you may hold your selfish reasons above our existence, but we ARE Europe, not you, you who our forefathers would expel or smite down.

EUROPE FOR EUROPEANS. REVOLUTION!

By Piotr | February 15, 2011 5:44 PM

It's all very well Canadians waxing lyrical about how multicultural they are, as part of a hugely expanding economy and an underpopulated country. The situation in Europe is different. We're in a period of huge economic difficulty and decline.

We can't have unfettered immigration. Where do we put people? What jobs can we give them?! Add that to the Islamic violence being aimed at Europe and you have one poor reflection on multiculturalism! It was Stockholm just a month ago, the filmmaker Van Gough in Amsterdam, the 7/7 bombings in London, the bombings in Madrid, the outrageous response to the Danish cartoon controversy.

When Canada has that on its doorstep, talk to me.

By Visiting student | February 15, 2011 6:22 PM

Is anyone surprise They have jumped on the band wagon?

By Jason Buttle | February 15, 2011 9:42 PM

"Politicians have failed miserably"to bring our world, the people of our world together, living harmoniously together. Then again what do you expect idiots like Verhagen can do? send him back to the blackhole???

By AlexJones | February 15, 2011 10:04 PM

@al: I'm hoping beyond hope that the Dutch will work toward fixing this on March 1st with the election. It's scary, really, not a pleasant time to be a foreigner here right now. I make an effort to smile at *everyone*. It's nothing huge, but maybe I can make someone feel a little more welcome, even if for just a moment.

By Maru | February 16, 2011 9:26 AM

"Have you ever actually asked immigrants WHY they aren't happy here?"

~They dont have to. If they are not happy they can return to their country.
If im going to work to another country i have to subject myself to their rules and society, if im not happy i might as well return to my country..

By Daniel | February 16, 2011 1:00 PM

Hmm, nobody seems to think about the fact that USA and Canada are immigrant countries. There is no such thing as an ethnic american/canadian, oh well there is, but they might not be so happy with how their multicultural homeland has turned out after uncontrolled immigration.

So native european countries should not be compared to those, this does not mean that we can not have any immigration but it needs to be limited and not cause white flight and make the native population a minority. This also means that immigrants should integrate and not form parallel-societies where they set their own rules (700 + ZUS in France for instance!)

European leaders just need some common sense, multikulti of 2011 is utopian.

By Henke | February 17, 2011 3:17 AM

Immigration is part of the national history of USA, Canada and Australia, and it's not at all easy even for us. But what combination of arrogance, stupidity and self-hatred ever let Euros imagine they could turn Third Worlders into parts of their very natural ethnic nations? Fools.

By EssEm | February 17, 2011 3:48 AM

Sweden has adopted a new constitution which, states that the multicultural society will be promoted. I become more and more afraid of this country.

By Lennart | February 17, 2011 10:23 AM

So Multiculturalism and Balkanization are one in the same!
Who would of guessed.

By gerry | February 18, 2011 10:35 AM

There are 2 reasons that new Americans feel proud of their new country:1) Americans don't believe in multiculturalism and 2) we expect immigrants to earn the right to be here (i.e., learn to speak the language, become taxpayers) and 2) we expect immigrants to become Americans and leave their old ways behind. How can you Europeans expect immigrants to be proud when you tell them that their old culture is better and hand them their living on plate? Make them earn a place in society and they 'll think it's something worth having.

By Susan | March 19, 2011 12:08 PM

Sarkozy claiming that multiculturaslim has failed is complete nonsense. It made sense for Britain to say it, but France never had a multicultural policy. The model of integration is very different, and was never based on the recognition of minorities, but on the idea that all French citizens are equal and it should stop there.
Sarkozy just jumped on the bandwagon of populism.
Sure, it doesnt work perfectly in 100% of the cases, but it has not failed! I am multicultural! Im not a failure! Im not going anywhere! I refuse to adhere to some concept of a national identity. I am European, made up of cultural bits of everywhere, and my cultural is dynamic, still evolving.

By marko | May 27, 2011 7:00 PM

The Euro was established to make commerce seamless and cut out the nightmare of conversion and profit taking. Immigration should be open with taxation in place so people share the tax burden. Diversity is the positive word instead of difference. The government is strong enough to instill regulations that moderate the bogeyman of religion, clothing and bad behavior. Don't let fear dictate other peoples rights. Respect for all peoples is the sign of a healthy democracy. How do you get rid of your enemies? Make them understand the meaning and value of friendship/citizenship.

By MW | June 4, 2011 9:43 AM

They will never admit, that they failed to implement multi-culturalism and a just society..... the easy thing is to blame it on multi-culturalism...

By jerry | July 29, 2011 9:36 PM

So the right-wing government in the Netherlands agrees with other right-wing governments in Europe. Why am I not surprised?

By groverpm | July 31, 2011 9:29 AM

Y'all are funny. I'm American, but I LOVE it here in NL and I would happily call myself Dutch if I could.

America is a pit and getting worse every year. NL meanwhile has low unemployment, a strong social net and safe streets. Why would I want to go back? I WANT TO BE DUTCH.

By Aggie | August 1, 2011 7:44 AM

I just moved to Amsterdam, I am from NYC. What I see from a lot of countries is that they lump immigrants to neighborhoods and expect them to be happy. Also, employ those immigrants so that they can contribute to society. My parents came to the US back in the 50's from Mexico when handouts were unheard of they came to work. I am not saying that all mexicans are doing the same thing but we are Mayors, Lawyers, Doctors, Drug dealers etc. Coming from Oslo, Norway lived there for 2 years I see the same thing they bring immigrants just to say we are helping the world are they?

By Pablo A Vega | August 1, 2011 9:50 AM