THE HAGUE, 27/09/03 - The Lower House committee investigating Dutch integration policy should look across the borders. Abroad, integration of ethnic minorities is going better than in the Netherlands, said sociology professor R. Koopmans Friday.

In the Netherlands, there is more discrimination on the labour market, the concentration of minorities in cities is greater, there are more 'black' schools and the own organizations of minorities function less well than abroad, Koopmans told the committee. In adidition, the percentage of immigrants in the prisons is "By far the highest compared with other countries. "

Koopmans, associated with the Free University in Amsterdam, criticized the committee for not paying any attention to crime. "I understand the fear of stigmatisation, but there really is a problem," he insisted. He termed it normal that immigrants have a higher chance of criminal behavior, "But in the Netherlands this is three times has high as in Germany and the UK. "

According to the academic, the split between population groups is not per se related to integration policy. The fact that there are 'black' and 'white' schools is partly because parents have a free choice of schools. In Germany, they must send their children to school in their own neighborhood.

M. Penninx, professor of ethnic studies at the University of Amsterdam, lauded the fact that many immigrants are active in politics in the Netherlands. "That is not seen in any other country. " Koopmans disagreed that political participation is a yardstick for integration. "This involves an elite within the minority groups. The man in the street is doing much worse. "

E. Nazarski, director of refugee foundation VluchtelingenWerk, criticized the fact that asylum-seekers often have to wait for years in reception centers before they are offered language courses. "They start on integration damaged. "