A total of 1,330 students and employees in Groningen, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Delft, Wageningen and Twente filled out the survey. Over 70 percent of them say they felt welcome when they arrived in the Netherlands, but only 55 percent still feel that way now. The proportion of survey respondents who felt unwelcome rose from 16.5 percent on arrival to 25 percent today. “Outside of university, the feeling of being welcomed just isn’t there. I can’t exactly say why, it’s just a general feeling. How others act around you,” says Antoine Brunelle, international bachelor’s student in Mechanical Engineering at TU/e.

Almost half of the respondents in the national survey cite the increasingly negative discourse about internationals in Dutch politics as a reason for this. About 30 percent are considering leaving the Netherlands because of the current debate on internationalization. Whether this is because of politics, the students at international student association Cosmos cannot say. However, they do confirm that many of their fellow students are indeed planning to leave the Netherlands as soon as possible after graduation.

Shocking

In university newspaper DUB, a German researcher at the Utrecht Faculty of Humanities says it is “shocking to see that in the past five years, the discourse has changed from a positive ideological view of internationalization to an ideological rejection of internationalization, as if it were the source of all social problems, from the housing crisis to the workload at universities.” Tresen Ernemann, international bachelor’s student in Industrial Design at TU/e, shares this sentiment. “I feel like there’s a lot of discrimination against internationals. Especially if you don’t speak Dutch you often get rejected at functions, or in the housing market.”

Both Brunelle and Ernemann say they had a different vision of the Netherlands before they came to study in Eindhoven. Both students had lived in different parts of the world prior to coming here. “I feel like we were sold the wrong image of the Netherlands,” says Brunelle. “Exactly,” Ernemann adds. “Several important matters were simply not mentioned, like the housing crisis for example. Also, I just don’t get the same acceptingness now that I’m here, compared to when I was still in the application process. It’s like first we are encouraged to come study here, and whenever we arrive we don’t get that same energy anymore.”

Optimistic

The national survey also includes less pessimistic sentiments. In Groningen’s university newspaper UKrant, which initiated the survey, a Canadian lecturer says she is by no means thinking of leaving: “I’m optimistic that this discussion about internationals is a temporary thing, that people will get used to the increase of English speakers and that the housing crisis will be solved. And besides, the university community is very open. So there’s plenty of reason for us to stay.”

The Cosmos students agree that things are better within the university walls. “There’s a clear difference between outside or inside of university. Inside, I definitely feel more welcome,” says Brunelle. Ernemann agrees. “Most people are willing to speak English here, we get study advisors and especially Cosmos is of great help when it comes to assisting us with important matters such as Dutch laws or insurances.”

Yesterday, Dutch voters headed to the polls. Especially parties on the right side of the political spectrum and election winner PVV in particular want to significantly reduce the internationalization of higher education and research.