Moroccans in the Netherlands (, , also known as Dutch-Moroccans) are Dutch citizens of Moroccan origin. They consist of immigrants from Morocco and their descendants, and form the second largest ethnic group in the Netherlands.
Migration history
Moroccans were not much represented in the first major postwar wave of migration to the Netherlands from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s, which consisted mostly of people from the Netherlands' former colonies. However, they began to migrate in larger numbers during the second wave; between 1965 and 1973, one hundred thousand Turks and Moroccans came to the Netherlands, and an additional 170,000 from 1974 to 1986. Earlier arrivals consisted of "guest workers", whose recruitment and admission was governed by a bilateral treaty signed in 1969. From the 1970s, the number arriving under family reunification schemes became more significant. Around half originated from the mountainous Rif region.
According to The Netherlands Institute for Social Research annual report, marriages in 2001 between Moroccan immigrants and native Dutch were rare, accounting for only 5% of marriages. A 90% share of the marriages were to the same ethnic group and 2/3 of the spouse was a "marriage migrant" from the country of origin. Since stricter legislation was adopted in 2004, marriage immigration has decreased considerably.
Demographic characteristics
, statistics of the Dutch Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek with regards to people of Moroccan origin showed: 166,774 persons of first-generation background (88,084 men, 78,690 women) 174,754 persons of second-generation background (88,563 men, 86,191 women), of which: 23,255 persons with one parent born in the Netherlands (11,911 men, 11,344 women) 151,499 persons with both parents born outside of the Netherlands (76,652 men, 74,847 women)
For a total of 353,987 persons (176,647 men, 164,881 women). This represented roughly 51% growth over the 1996 total of 225,088 persons. The population has shown an annual increase since then.
As of 2011, 16% of male youths under 25 years of age in Amsterdam is Dutch-Moroccan.
Education
According to the SCB's 2005 Annual Report on Integration, most first-generation Moroccan migrants had a very low level of education, with many of them having had little or no schooling at all. In addition, many Moroccan "marriage migrants" who arrived in the Netherlands by marrying an immigrant already living in the country, as well as the "in-between-generation" of migrants who arrived while aged 6–18, have a low education. This has resulted in an on average poorer command of the Dutch language among these groups.
While almost half of Dutch and Iranian-origin pupils attend higher secondary education (Hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs or havo) or pre-university education (Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs or vwo), only a fifth of Moroccan pupils did so in 2005.
Religiosity
According to a 2018 survey using 2015 data, a very high proportion of Moroccans regard themselves as Muslim which together with Turks represented two thirds of all Muslims in the country. The fraction self-identifying as Muslims is higher among those with Moroccan ancestry (94%) than those with Turkish ancestry (86%). The fraction remained constant in the Moroccan group from 2006 to 2015, while it declined in the Turkish group from 93% to 86% during the period.
Crime rate
In 2015, individuals with a Moroccan background were roughly five times as likely to have been suspected of a crime compared to the native Dutch: 4.64% to 0.83% (the ratio has not been standardised for age). Of the first generation 2.5% was a crime suspect and, of the second generation, 7.4%; of all males almost 7.8% and women 1.34%. For Moroccans aged 18–25, one in ten have been suspected of a crime. For non-Western immigrants in general, the second generation has a higher crime rate than the first generation. The crime rate for Dutch as well as immigrants from a number of non-Western countries almost halved in the 2005-2015 period.
Culture
"I know my friends from the street," a 2002 Verweij-Jonker Institute report on leisure time of Dutch Turks and Dutch Moroccans, stated that Dutch Moroccans tend to make few new contacts from the street, tend to spend leisure time with members of the same ethnicity and sex, and have leisure activities heavily influenced by "Moroccan culture". Frank Buijs did a 1993 study of young Moroccan men in the Netherlands. He found that young men prefer attending "Moroccan parties" over other types of parties since they are able to meet other Moroccans and consider the parties to be "fun".