There are low-paying and low-prestige jobs which European youth will not do such as caring for the post WWII baby boomers who are pensioners now or working in slaughterhouses. Immigrants will do this work. There are also professional occupations which are short-staffed such as nurses and medical doctors. Again, educated immigrants are needed. A healthy economy will also meet the challenges of a changing technology.
Sadly our youth has been spoiled rotten. Working manual jobs for an honest wage? Nope, not for me.
It was that arrogant attitude that caused the need for work migration to begin with. The right wing Dutch government were the worst offenders in this issue. Rather than getting Moroccan workers from the more educated and more Western parts of Morocco the right wing government looked for the cheapest labor force they could hire. Most of them not able to speak anything but Moroccan or sometimes French and sadly most of the illiterate and not really educated. They were from the Rif region of Morocco.
In the infinite stupidity, the Dutch right wing government had the incredibly smart idea to hire them with the plan to kick them back to Morocco when they were no longer needed. Sadly for the right wing government that did not happen. They kept living in the Netherlands, and due to illiteracy and low education they had problems learning the Dutch language. Mandatory language lessons, again in the infinite wisdom of our right wing government was a waste of time and money as they would be returning back to Morocco soon enough, so there you had badly adjusted, low education, almost or completely illiterate Moroccans living in the poorest parts of town, working their asses off and working hard.
Dutch people then started getting unemployment issues, but the Moroccan employees had been good workers so the grand scheme of the Dutch right wing government to let them go back did not work. The Moroccan people liked it here, they were sending out for their wives and children to come and live here. Another bad choice as they too were not forced into Dutch language lessons.
The Turkish who were somewhat higher educated could have been prime candidates for mandatory Dutch lessons but sadly due to an EU agreement, the Dutch government could not do this. So now you had 2 groups who were not greatly integrated and unable to speak or learn Dutch.
Their children, some born there most born here started going to school. They were having problems keeping up at school. Their parents at home only spoke Arabic or French/Turkish and their writing/reading/comprehension skills were keeping them back at school massively. Then there was the discrimination issue and the stubborn headed Dutch who were like:
INTEGRATE NOW!!!!!! No, we are not going to be welcoming or open our arms and doors for you, we do nothing, you do everything or we will ignore and discriminate you!!!!
That unwelcoming attitude was prevalent in parents and was also transferred to their kids, leading to loads of young Moroccan and Turkish kids who were caught between a rock an a hard place. Their parents trying to hold on to the old language and old traditions and the kids wanting to life a bit more like Dutch children but also not welcomed by Dutch children and parents due to inherent racism.
There is nothing wrong with taking in migrants but learn from the Right wing Dutch government of the 1970's. Make sure people get to learn the language and make integrating them into the Dutch society ASAP.
