Tough times ahead for Moroccans in the Netherlands

Anti-migrant and anti-Islam Dutch party PVV, led by Geert Wilders, won by far the parliamentary election, in a result that signals the rise of the far-right across Europe leaving many migrants in the country, especially Moroccans, expecting the worst.

PVV win will send shockwaves across Europe where mainstream parties fear a sweeping return of the far-right riding on the tide of anti-migrant and anti-EU rhetoric.
Wilders, who gained notoriety for his slunder campaigns against Moroccans, promised to halt migration and oppose EU policies, including support for Ukraine and new admissions to the Union.

After the election result announcement, he said “the Netherlands will be returned to the Dutch, the asylum tsunami and migration will be curbed.”

His win comes after similar victories of the far-right in Italy and Slovakia, joining states like Hungary whose leader Victor Orban has never shied away from espousing an outright anti-Muslim and anti-migrant stance.

Moroccans, one of the largest migrant groups in the Netherlands, fear the worst after the win of Wilders who is poised to form a coalition government after widening the gap with his political contenders.

Wilders has previously taken aim at the Moroccan diaspora describing them as “scum”.

In a statement to Dutch news agency ANP, Habib El Kaddouri, leader of a Moroccan Dutch migrant organization said “distress and fear are enormous…We are afraid that he will portray us as second-class citizens.”