Position paper on the international recruitment of health workers for the Netherlands

In our position paper about the international recruitment of health workers for the Netherlands, we recommend the Dutch government to:

• Remain extremely cautious about actively recruiting foreign-trained, foreign-born health workers, especially from countries with low health worker densities.
• Consult with a broad array of stakeholders before embarking on formal arrangements for the international recruitment of health personnel.
• Ensure thorough understanding of existing bilateral arrangements in other countries.
• Invest in more and better data about foreign health workers in Dutch 24/7 home care.
• Keep track of recruitment agencies and make reporting mandatory.
• Respect and actively promote labour and human rights of all migrant health workers active in Dutch health care.
• Invest in health systems worldwide.

The paper was written with contributions from immigration lawyer Anton Kleijweg.

Read our position paper ‘Handle with care – Why the Netherlands must be cautious about recruiting migrant health workers’ by clicking on the image below.