# Netherlands (Somali diaspora)

> About 39,500 Somali Dutch lived in the Netherlands in 2017, and nearly 70% held Dutch nationality.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/diaspora/netherlands/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who lives there

The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) counted 39,500 Somali Dutch residents on 1 January 2017. Nearly 70% hold Dutch nationality ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)).

- **Cities:** Rotterdam, Tilburg, The Hague, Eindhoven and Amsterdam.
- **Moving on:** from 2000 to 2005, up to 20,000 Somali Dutch moved on to the UK by one unofficial estimate, many to Leicester, Birmingham and London. Reasons given include housing rules that scattered families and hard access to jobs ([Somalis in the Netherlands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalis_in_the_Netherlands)).
- **Families:** many women raise children alone.

## Work and money

From the SCP study ([SCP, 2017](https://www.scp.nl/binaries/scp/documenten/publicaties/2017/12/01/gevlucht-met-weinig-bagage/Gevlucht+met+weinig+bagage+%281%29.pdf)):

- **Work:** about a quarter in paid work (men 31%, women 18%). Unemployment was 34% in 2014 to 2016.
- **Support:** 52% received social assistance (bijstand), against 2% of native Dutch.
- **Income:** an average of €12,200 a year, against €26,300. 68% lived below the poverty line, and 82% of children lived in poor households.
- **School:** 68% of adults who had left school had at most primary education, and 8% held a higher-education diploma.

## Who serves the community

The government and the Tweede Kamer. Municipalities run social assistance, the integration programme (inburgering), housing and schools. UWV handles employment insurance and IND handles immigration. SCP and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) publish the data.

## What the community faces now

- Deep poverty, especially for children.
- Families split across the Netherlands, the UK and Somalia.
- Low schooling among adults, which makes paid work harder to find.
- Many single mothers raising children on social assistance, with little time for work or study.

## Top needs

1. Paid work, especially for women.
2. Futures for children beyond poverty.
3. A trusted, open channel to send help home.
4. Records that link families split between the Netherlands, the UK and Somalia.
5. Basic education for adults.

## What we don't know yet

Figures after 2017, numbers by city, and the names of community groups. If you know, use "Fix this page".

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