The IND immigration service has withdrawn the international recognition from the  Avans+  hbo college in Breda, meaning the school can no longer sponsor residence permits for foreign students, local broadcaster Omroep Brabant said on Saturday.

The decision follows a failed work-study project run by the school with a group of nurses from Indonesia who recruited to help address staffing shortages in Dutch healthcare.

The affair dates back to 2021, when Avans agreed to work with a recruitment agency to bring 1,200 Indonesian nurses to the Netherlands each year.

Internal emails cited by RTV Drenthe show that the immigration service had reservations from the outset. “In our view, this is mainly a construction to bring cheap labour from abroad to the Netherlands (my director used the word ‘exploitation’),” an immigration service official wrote at the time.

The health ministry also expressed concerns, saying in an email that was illogical to recruit nurses from Indonesia which had its own shortage of healthcare staff.

Despite these concerns, the first group of 64 Indonesian nurses arrived in the Netherlands in November 2021. They studied at one of Avans’s campuses and were placed at care organisations Zorggroep Drenthe and Woonzorg Flevoland.

Two years later, an internal report by the immigration service highlighted serious problems with the project. The nurses were given an inaccurate picture of the programme, worked more hours than allowed, and the quality of education was inadequate.

The report stated that the nurses were expected to work as fully qualified staff with six-day weeks. In addition, Avans reportedly failed to comply with privacy regulations and advised the students not to become pregnant.

Following the report and media coverage, Avans terminated the project. Many of the nurses continued their studies but stopped participating in the work-study scheme.

In December, fifteen of the nurses reached a court settlement with the school and received €100,000 in compensation.

There are still 70 Indonesian students enrolled at Avans and the IND has said they have until 1 December 2025 to apply for “an alternative residence purpose”.

Avans said the students will be able to complete their studies. “We will continue to support them in applying for a new visa. They deserve a chance to finish their studies if they wish to,” the school said. Avans is considering legal action against the IND