Dutch Protests Erupt As Immigration Fails To Deliver Economic Benefits

The Netherlands has experienced a spate of violent protests in response to the perceived economic burden of the government's immigration policies.

About 1,200 people demonstrated on September 20 in The Hague against the "failures in asylum policy." Some of the protestors clashed with police, who used teargas and a water cannon after they blocked a highway. On the same day, Demonstrators vandalized The Hague offices of the Democrats' 1966 party (D66), a self-described "Dutch progressive liberal party."

Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister, Dick Schoof, referred to the demonstrations as "shocking and bizarre images of shameless violence." He called the vandalism of the D66 offices "completely unacceptable."

Holland has joined other European countries experiencing a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment as public frustration increases due to the crime and economic costs associated with migration. The country, with a population of 18.3 million, hasn't experienced a boost in economic growth, an argument often used by government officials in favor of immigration.

"Europe is taking in large numbers of immigrants without having the capacity to foster any degree of economic, social or cultural integration," Marco Annunziata, Co-Founder of Annunziata + Desai Advisors and former Chief Economist at General Electric and UniCredit, wrote on September 1.

"Far from giving Europe an economic boost, immigration threatens to undermine the political and social cohesion of individual EU member countries."

European Majorities Think Immigration Is Too High

Majorities across seven European Union (EU) countries said immigration over the past decade was "too high," according to a February YouGov survey.

Europeans from nations such as Germany, Spain, Sweden, Britain, Italy, France, and Denmark ranked immigration as a top national issue. For example, 81% of Germans felt that immigration levels were too high, with only 13% saying they were about right.

There is "unhappiness with the government handling of immigration across the board," Matthew Smith, YouGov's head of data journalism, said of the survey.

The Dutch government collapsed on June 3 due to political disagreement on immigration. Leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), Geert Wilders, withdrew from a shaky coalition and triggered a political crisis with a snap election scheduled for October 29.

Dutch GDP Slows for Four Quarters

Public frustration in the Netherlands has increased as the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has declined for its fourth consecutive quarter. GDP grew by just 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in Q2, slowing from 0.3% in Q1, according to data from Trading Economics.

Dutch commercial services and retail sentiment have also cooled, according to data from the European Commission. The Dutch composite sentiment indicator decreased from 100.6 in August to 99.9 in September, "indicating a level of confidence that remains at its historical average, consistent with moderate economic growth going forward," ING Think said on Monday.

Consumer conscience has taken a hit. Retail sales in the Netherlands increased by 3.6% year-over-year in August, following a downwardly revised 4.3% rise in the previous month. Household consumption slowed in July to 1.3% year-on-year, from an upwardly revised 1.4% increase in the last month.

"Price perceptions and uncertainty are still weighing on consumer sentiment," ING Think said. "Respondents with jobs, owner-occupied houses and higher education are particularly pessimistic compared to their own historic sentiment levels."

Demonstration Part of Rising Frustration

A social media influencer, who goes by "right-wing Els," organized the anti-immigration protest in The Hague. She is a supporter of the PVV. The young woman has often been seen posing with the politician and calling for people to vote for him.

"I assumed that people came to demonstrate peacefully, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, it turned out very differently," she wrote. The 26-year-old influencer added that she would not have called for the demonstrations had she known violence would result.

"We will never let our beautiful country be taken away by extremist rioters," D66 leader Rob Jetten posted on X after the attack on his party's headquarters in The Hague. "Keep your hands off political parties."

Wilders called the violence "absolutely unacceptable."

Highly Skilled Migrant Rates Drop

Amid the demonstrations, data show an unsustainable immigration future for the Netherlands.

According to a June 2025 report by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 316,000 migrants arrived in the Netherlands in 2024, a decrease of 19,000 from 2023. Of these, approximately 50% came from countries outside the European Union (EU) or European Free Trade Association nations.

However, the decline reflected a decrease in the number of highly skilled migrants arriving in the Netherlands, according to the CBS data. The number of "relatively well-paid, specialized labor migrants" or "knowledge migrants" from outside of the EU fell by nearly 40%.

Meanwhile, the number of asylum-based, non-EU immigration rose in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the 2024 rates.

Low-Skilled Migrants Result in Economic Drag

The decline in higher-earning skilled migrants will put pressure on the larger Dutch economy, according to a 2024 report from the Germany-based IZA Institute of Labor Economics, an independent research organization.

The report showed that non-skilled immigrants from outside Europe impose a "relatively high cost" on the Dutch government. Social assistance "in particular" stands out, the IZA report said.

The Dutch economy could see significant challenges if this trend continues, IZA warned.

"High fiscal costs of immigrants are not that much caused by high absorption of government expenditures but rather by low contributions to taxes and social security premiums," IZA said.

As a writer on EU migration and a former member of the Dutch parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote on X in April, "The economic argument for mass migration has faltered in America, Britain, and elsewhere amidst evidence of net fiscal burdens, real wage suppression, soaring property costs, and sluggish productivity & median GDP growth."

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