Netherlands: Marriage immigration continues to drop

Less and less Turks and Moroccans bring their marriage partner from their land of origin.  In 2002 half of the Moroccans and Turks still married somebody who came over to the Netherlands.  Last year it was 15% and 20% respectively, according to data published by Statistics Netherlands Monday.

According to the researchers it seems that in place of immigration marriages, more people marry somebody from their group of origin who already lives in the Netherlands.  The number of mixed marriages had not increased in the past five years.

It is unclear if the decrease in the number of immigrant marriages is the result of government regulations.  The decrease began in 2003 and the new regulations came into effect at the end of 2004.  According to Statistics Netherlands, integration and the increase in unmarried couples living together also possibly played a role.

Source: AD (Dutch)

See also: Netherlands: Marriage immigration decreasing

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In the majority of the south Mediterranean and M.E. countries the population is stabilizing and the fertility is near replacement or lower levels. So there is less surplus population to send abroad. And less pressure to do so.

The stricter reunification policies, the availability of a partner is the same ethnic group also reduce the need to import a partner and make it more difficult.

This will augment the disconnection of the european muslim with their fatherland and their culture/religion.