Businesses, governments and institutes: major concerns in Limburg about government plans

With great concern, the Dutch educational institutes look at the government plans to reduce the inflow of international talent into the Netherlands. They are not the only ones that are concerned: in a letter, Limburg’s governments, healthcare institutions and businesses also urgently call on Minister Bruins (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science) to consider regional opportunities and threats. Otherwise, the policy will undermine Limburg’s innovative power, and ‘long-term economic and social development in the region will be at risk’.

Limburg’s businesses also support the letter. De Limburgse Werkgeversvereniging (the Limburg Employers' Association) LWV reports (in Dutch) that 80% of employers are happy to sign a petition to keep international students and talent in Limburg. One of the reasons for this statement is undoubtedly because over a third of the employers who participated in a survey already employ international workers who were educated in Limburg.

The fact that a wide range of organisations are speaking out so emphatically and with such concern is supportive of the efforts of staff and students of educational institutions to dissuade the minister from his plans. Read more about these efforts in the call for students and staff to protest in The Hague on 25 November. 

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