A new life takes time: Mirgrant integration in the city of Dordrecht

Abstract

The phenomenon of population movements is a relevant and multi-faceted topic. This thesis investigated the provision of services in the city of Dordrecht concerning migrant integration to see how international population movements affect the city of Dordrecht. By means of literature about migrant integration and multilevel governance the provision of services and the agency of the actors involved has been investigated to research the actual circumstances concerning migrant integration in the city of Dordrecht. Overall, it can be concluded that Dordrecht as a receiving society has assimilationist expectations of the status holders, whereby these newcomers should adapt as soon as possible, but has an universal provision of services, whereby basic legal obligation are fulfilled, but no extra investment is done to ameliorate the integration process of status holders. The main argument which is made, states that the present integration policy in the city of Dordrecht sustains the asymmetric positions of actors, which is harmful for the integration process of status holders and the broader public and political debate about migrant integration.