Polish centre opens in The Hague

The first Polish Centre in the Netherlands will open its doors on 18 June at Zieken 103 in The Hague.

It will serve as a multifunctional meeting place run by Polish people for Polish people. The goal of the centre is to promote integration and the participation of the Polish community in The Hague.

The centre will be open seven days a week and will organise educational activities for children, young people and adults.

The Hague favourite city

Polish immigrants prefer living in The Hague over other Dutch cities. In 2011 the Municipality of The Hague registered more than 1,000 new Polish residents more than in 2010. This increase was considerably larger than in Rotterdam (+800) and Amsterdam (+280).

The actual influx is even larger. The municipality calculates that two to three new Polish residents come to live in The Hague for every Pole who officially registers with the municipality.

Last year the official influx of Poles in the Netherlands reached an historic high with 19,000 immigrants. Over the last 50 years only the Surinamese formed a larger immigrant group within one year than the Poles in 2011. Approximately 7,000 Poles also left the Netherlands last year.