Netherlands: No reason to fear Muslim 'tsunami'

Joop de Beer, of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), says that Muslims will not become a majority in the Netherlands. He says the fear of an unstoppable 'tsunami' of Muslims is unfounded.

The specter that exists of Muslims taking over the European population are not based on demographic research, says De Beer, head of the NIDI prognosis department. He doesn't think that the total non-western immigrant population in 2050 will reach 16%, as claimed by the Dutch statistics bureau (CBS). According to a rough estimate of the CBS, 54% of the non-western immigrants are Muslims. "If I apply that number to the prognosis for 2050, then I get to 9% Muslims."

De Beer doesn't want to play down the problems of integration and Islam. He says the presence of 2.7 million non-Western immigrants in 2050 will undoubtedly lead to tensions. That will happen also because immigrants are so concentrated in the major cities and within certain neighborhoods in the major cities where the problems pile up.

Unlike Geert Wilders, head of the Party for Freedom, De Beer does not think there will be a 'tsunami' of Muslims. He foresees an economic immigration of selected migrants who will comply with the Dutch demand for workers. These immigrants will come from Eastern Europe and Asia. He expects that immigration from Muslim countries will increase less sharply since the entrance policy will become stricter.

Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)

See also: Netherlands: 30% immigrants in 2050

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