At least 165,000 people from central and eastern Europe are working in the Netherlands, some 60,000 more than the official total, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday.

According to the national statistics office CBS, the Netherlands is home to 104,000 central and eastern Europeans.
The CBS bases its calculations on council registries while Erasmus researchers looked at ‘more reliable’ wage slip and tax office information, the paper says. The figures do not include estimates about illegal workers or people employed through foreign companies.
People from Romania and Bulgaria are not allowed to work in the Netherlands without a permit.
Integration
The research also showed some 20% of central and eastern Europeans plan to stay between two and 10 years in the Netherlands and 14% want to move here permanently.
The paper says integration minister Eberhard van der Laan will use the research when revising his policy on integration and to deal with the the housing problems facing many European immigrants. The research showed almost 80% of eastern and central Europeans share their sleeping quarters with others, while 20% live in tents and caravans.
The bigger Dutch cities have claimed people from eastern Europe are becoming a ‘nuisance’ in some inner city areas. A number of council officials and MPs also say immigrants from the former Soviet block should be forced to go on integration courses.