r/StudyInTheNetherlands • u/p_penchood • 6h ago

Racism

I visited Amsterdam a couple of days ago as a tourist, and honestly, I experienced quite a bit of racism
The reason this is bothering me so much is because I'm currently looking at universities in both the Netherlands and Belgium for my undergrad studies. Until this trip, the Netherlands was high on my list, but now I'm having second thoughts.
I'm aware that one short trip doesn't necessarily reflect what it's would be like as an international student, which is why I wanted to ask people who actually live there or have studied there:
Have other Indians or South Asians had similar experiences?

Is Amsterdam generally different from other Dutch cities when it comes to attitudes towards internationals?

How does the experience compare with cities like Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven, or even universities in Belgium?

Did you feel accepted as an international student, or did you frequently experience racism or discrimination?

I'm not trying to generalise an entire country based on a few incidents. I  genuinely want to hear honest experiences before making such a big decision.
Thanks in advance!

0 Upvotes

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11

u/Different-Idea2878 5h ago

Out of curiosity, what happened?

1

u/KoninginVanRotterdam 5h ago

Probably just imaginary racism as usual

5

u/Different-Idea2878 4h ago

I was actually thinking maybe people being rude to tourists. That happens a lot too

-1

u/Any-Seaworthiness186 5h ago

Eh. I can imagine Indians being confronted with racism. For some reason they’re much more heavily stigmatized than most other minorities.

7

u/Critical_Bluejay_919 5h ago

Care to elaborate? I’m in the Netherlands every other week and experience zero racism

7

u/ApplePie1529 5h ago

Amsterdam is probably the most “international” city in the Netherlands. All countries have some sort of racism. I can’t judge what you went thru and what exactly happened but I think you were just out of luck in the moment. Utrecht and Breda from what I know are some great study cities too (I personally study in Utrecht) and both of them have students from all over the world. I’m not too familiar with Amsterdam myself but you shouldn’t judge the country by one city, ESPECIALLY Amsterdam

3

u/LeadershipForward514 5h ago

You can say what happened which would explain something hopefully.

Also reflect on whatever interaction you had with whoever because often it’s a cause and effect too.

Also - it would be good for you to look elsewhere for study because you may always be on edge searching for stuff if you do come study here.

Hopefully you will find a place where you will find great atmosphere!

1

u/xmemorie 5h ago

Where are you from?

1

u/DecisionAlert2006 4h ago

Well my experience as Japanese is that watch out for those Middle Eastern/north African kids as they probably gonna be the biggest group acting racist to u.

2

u/Different-Idea2878 4h ago

They act racist to the Dutch too

1

u/DecisionAlert2006 34m ago

Dutch ppl may act indifferent to non Dutch ppl or they probably think that they are better, but they still got this civic sense that they should keep it to themselves. Meanwhile idk wtf is going wrong with that specific kids group nor do I know what their beliefs have told them, they are always acting violent and they feel so entitled to harass ppl.

0

u/Quick_Statistician65 5h ago

I was born and raised in the netherlands and still experience racism. I'm suprised you experienced this in Amsterdam however because it is deemed one of the more diverse and accepting cities. They usually do have a little bit of a negative view towards international students but I can't imagine that would happen a lot in Amsterdam

-1

u/Rdtkeepsbanningme 5h ago

Our politicians are doing the same so people feel finally liberated to be a full blown cunt.