The government should resume holding structured meetings with the Netherlands’ different immigrant groups, according to a new report carried out on behalf of the social affairs ministry.

Formal talks with ethnic community representatives were abandoned in 2011, when the VVD formed a minority government with the Christian Democrats which was propped up by the PVV.

However, without the network of minority organisations, the government can no longer respond adequately to rising social tensions, the report says.

The report was sent to parliament at the end of January but social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher has refused to discuss its findings, the Volkskrant says. Instead, he considers it to be an issue for the next government.

Believable

The researchers conclude that the government needs ‘believable and trustworthy’ discussion partners, particularly from the Turkish and Moroccan communities.

They can be involved in reducing tensions, activating their supporters, supporting emancipatory polices and keeping officials abreast of hot issues, the report said.

Walter Palm, a civil servant who was involved in integration issues from 1982 to 2017, told the Volkskrant that giving up the original platform was an ‘industrial accident’.

‘Migrant groups now have less influence on policy, which reduces support and the chances of success,’ he said.’Without support, every policy is doomed to fail.’