Introduction – Immigration Crisis and Socio-Economic Development in Netherlands
Being part of the European Union, it was natural for The Netherlands to be impacted by the immigration crisis which had hit almost entire Europe. On one hand the administration of the country had to develop and implement strategies aimed at addressing the immigration crisis . Initially, the country had resorted to sealing the borders to prevent the influx of refugees . However, with international attention on the crisis - especially highlighted by the capsizing of boats carrying refugees in the Mediterranean Sea the nation had to resort to finally accepting immigrants into the nation. Needless to state that this move of the Dutch Prime Minister was responded to by a number of backlashes and public demonstrations as the citizens of the nation clearly expressed dissatisfaction at the decision which was very well influenced by the EU.
It would not be unwise to state that the reasons behind the reservations which the citizens had against allowing as many as 250,000 refugees into their homeland were justified. Perhaps from the context of this study, the socio-economic factors themselves will highlight many challenges which further worsened the crisis in the nation . Generally in case of any similar socio-economic situations economists need to focus on indicators of economic health in the country – the labor market, unemployment market, fiscal market, GDP and GNP and aspect of Public Finance .
Labor Market conditions
It needs to be stated that an influx of as many as 250,000 immigrants into the country will definitely impact the labor market conditions prevailing, and the most likely outcome is an upset in the equilibrium . In this perspective there are two important factors to be focused upon – the available opportunities to the labor market in the nation and the set of employable skills and attributes that can be obtained from the labor market . The demand and supply equilibrium with a sudden growth in the number of potential labor resources in the market is affected and in the case of different countries like Netherlands, a direct impact is on the prevalent employment conditions and factors such as wage rate . At the same time, the concern from an industrial perspective is about the quality of labor resources – whether the industry remains unaffected due to changes in the existent paradigm of skills-number indications. Clearly, for Netherlands, this has become a major challenge to be addressed.
Unemployment
In the analysis of impact of immigrants on the society and economy in Netherlands, it also becomes important to highlight the theoretical suggestions of human capital . Here it becomes important to highlight another important demographic factor of the nation – almost 67%-68% of the population of the nation belong to the age group of 15-64 years , suggesting that the market is almost saturated with sufficient number of workers. With an additional 250,000 immigrants who supposedly were able bodied to cross seas and terrains the number of available labor becomes higher . It is not directly addressed by the inflow of skilled and experienced labor resources for the industry of the nation, which leads to conditions of unemployment in the country.
Fiscal Market
In instances of an influx of a high number of people into any country, the fiscal impact also becomes an important area of concern. Generally, a good sign on the fiscal market is when the industry can benefit from a higher number of talented and skilled workforces to the nation who can be employed. Likewise, in case of the opposite situation the industry and economy of the nation is further affected when the nation is unable to achieve any benefits in terms of potential skilled human resources to the country . As far as the population inflow to The Netherlands is concerned, this remains a critical area as from the records of asylum seeking applications, the trend emerged that most of the immigrants sought refuge in Germany, UK and France due to perceptions of higher opportunities available .
GDP and GNP
It needs to be mentioned that at this point it is difficult to ascertain what would be the outcome of the immigration crisis on the economy of the nation – in terms of calculation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP). Whether an assessment involves the calculation of total worth of the country’s production - both within and outside the national boundaries , the overall quality of labor resources and its feasibility to the industry will always influence industrial outputs. However, a key reflection here is that in both cases, the calculation involves accounting for the total population of the nation and a seemingly yet unabsorbed labor pool will not account for a significant contribution to the growth. Rather the opposite will be the outcome – the burden of a section of ‘unproductive’ population will reduce the GDP and GNP indices.
Public Finance – Taxation
A very critical area affected by the inflow of immigrants in to the nation is the taxation policies meant for the general public. Now in Netherlands, providing basic amenities such as food and shelter to the immigrants is an item of public expense; the increased vigilance along the borders more so. The impact of this is the main source of revenue collection by the government – taxation will be increased to accommodate this sudden rise in national expenditure, the burden of which is yet again on the shoulders of the original citizens of the country .
Conclusion
Even though Netherlands and many European nations have been addressing the issue of immigration for many years now, the 2015 crisis was an unprecedented event. It is mainly due to the sudden surge in the number of asylum seekers and international attention on the issue. Even though at present it seems that there are more challenges awaiting Netherlands in this regard, the future can only unveil the true extent of impact on the nation. The nation is commonly expected to suffer from the immigration crisis. However, the key lies in molding the new arrivals to the requirements of the nation, as it needs to be mentioned that along with 250,000 extra mouths to feed the country has also received probably the same number of extra pair of hands too.
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