Amine Rech-Chouk, 23, will fly to Morocco next April. “As a child, I already felt different from my classmates. I also noticed that I was treated differently, and that never changed,” he toldAD.nl. In Morocco, he hopes to find a more welcoming society where he can “simply be [lui]-even “.
Political polarization and the rise of the right reinforced his decision. “It’s an injustice that we feel every day,” laments Amine, who was the victim of racist insults. He has already found accommodation in Casablanca and says he is confident for the future.
Najib, an entrepreneur in the education sector, will soon share the same fate. “If you had told me ten years ago that I would leave the Netherlands, I would have thought you were crazy,” he admits. He denounces the trivialization of anti-Muslim sentiment and “the series of laws and regulations which aim to restrict the freedoms of Muslims”. The events in Amsterdam, where Muslims were stigmatized, were a turning point. “So we feel less and less at home. »
To read: Family Code: Moroccan society is changing
Emigration from the Netherlands concerns more and more people with immigrant backgrounds. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 154,000 people emigrated in the first nine months of the year.
In Tangier, Mohamed Naji, a real estate agent, supports new arrivals. “Our parents and grandparents emigrated to the Netherlands in the 1960s, and we are now doing exactly the same thing, but in the other direction,” he observes. Hardening of society, discrimination, feeling of insecurity… There are many reasons for leaving.
Mohamed Naji warns of adaptation difficulties. “It depends a lot on where you settle,” he warns. Bilal, 40, tried the adventure in Fez for a year before returning to the Netherlands with his children. “Political problems in the Netherlands also played a role. We are treated differently here anyway. So there are two choices: accept this and live with it or leave. I wanted to spare my children this pain. » Despite the difficulties, he does not rule out trying the experience again one day. “Maybe we’ll try again later.” »
