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Dutch Regions Lean on Migrant Labor as Tiel Seeks Funds for Tougher Enforcement

EU free‑movement rules limit quick fixes despite surveys showing mixed views on numbers and impact.

Overview

  • Employers across Gelderland and Brabant say operations would stall without Eastern European workers, a view echoed by the SER’s finding that migrants are needed to plug labor gaps.
  • Tiel alderman Remco Dijkstra calls on The Hague to finance extra staff for stricter action against abusive agencies and to tackle nuisance and poor housing tied to seasonal flows.
  • Tiel estimates about 3,000 labor migrants in a city of 42,000 and is setting up a transition house with major employment agencies for workers who lose their jobs.
  • Official counts are incomplete because many short‑term and seasonal workers do not register, leaving municipalities with limited visibility into the true scale.
  • Kieskompas polling shows roughly a third believe there are too many labor migrants and one in five report nuisance, while a slim majority deem them economically important as parties advance differing proposals constrained by EU free‑movement rights outlined by legal scholar Tesseltje de Lange.