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Holland won’t welcome Pakistani immigrants not speaking Dutch

ISLAMABAD: The Dutch government on Monday passed a law aimed at heavily restricting the number of would-be Pakistani immigrants to the Netherlands, by linking applications to Dutch language proficiency, officials said. Under the new law, any Dutch national of Pakistani origin will only be permitted to send for family members (with a view to settling in Holland) provided that they learn Dutch prior to immigration application. Similarly, any Pakistani wishing to immigrate to the Netherlands will be required to take a language proficiency test at the Dutch Embassy in Islamabad. Anyone failing the test will automatically be denied the right to apply for immigration. Officials said that recent terrorist activities in the United Kingdom, which have been linked to Britons of Pakistani origin, had prompted the Netherlands to adopt the measure. However, officials pointed out that the new law would not affect those of Pakistani origin wishing to visit the Netherlands on Schengen tourist or business visas. The Pakistani government has come under domestic pressure to protest the new law and seek its overturning. Currently, there are no Dutch language teaching institutes in Pakistan. Many see this latest move as a bid by the Dutch government to keep Holland “Dutch”. Last year, the country offended its Muslim population by threatening to ban women from publicly wearing burqas, claiming that such attire undermined the secular identity of the country. sana

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