Integration courses may include greater focus on freedom of speech

Compulsory integration courses for non-Europeans moving to the Netherlands may be overhauled to include more recognition for freedom of speech issues. Social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher told parliament on Thursday he would look into increasing the focus on freedom of speech following a request by Labour MP Ahmed Marcouch. ‘There is just a multiple choice question about whether television and radio stations can broadcast their opinions freely,’ he told website nu.nl Asscher told MPs he would decide before the summer if the integration exam should be more explicit about the Dutch position on freedom. The aim of the declaration, first mooted two years ago, is to insure all immigrants to the Netherlands, including those from other EU countries, are aware of the ‘basic principles of Dutch society.’