- Feb 27
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
THE 2026 IMMIGRANT TIMES SOLIDARITY PRIZE
Candidate for the 2026 Prize:
Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands
The Immigrant Times Solidarity Prize will be awarded to a town or city, large or small, where residents have demonstrated that communities thrive when people stand by one another, whether their neighbours are newly arrived immigrants, families with roots in other parts of the world, or locals whose ties to the place go back generations.
Zwolle has been selected as a candidate for the 2026 Solidarity Prize. The Dutch provincial capital, under Mayor Peter Snijders, is debating migration rationally and with civility. Please send us your comments if you support Zwolle. Please insert Zwolle in the subject line.
About Zwolle
Zwolle is a city of around 135,000 people in the province of Overijssel, in the north-east of the Netherlands. It is one of the oldest cities in the country, with roots going back to the early Middle Ages, and its well-preserved historic centre, canals, gabled merchant houses, and the remains of medieval fortifications, reflect its long history as a prosperous trading city. Today, it is a regional hub for education, healthcare, and commerce, and one of the fastest-growing cities in the Netherlands.
Zwolle is part of a country where immigration has become one of the most divisive political issues of the past decade. The collapse of two successive Dutch governments over migration policy, the repeated electoral successes of Geert Wilders' far-right PVV party, and scenes of chaos at the national asylum reception centre in Ter Apel have shaped a national mood that is anxious and often angry. Against that backdrop, what has happened in Zwolle stands out.
The Mayor favours direct dialogue rather than heated public debates
In July 2025, Zwolle's city council voted by a large majority to approve a new asylum centre for 400 refugees in the Stadshagen district, a new residential development on the edge of the city. The decision followed a process that had lasted months and involved extensive community consultation, door-to-door conversations with residents, public information evenings, a dedicated website, and a neighbourhood advisory group invited to shape the facility's design. The approach was deliberate: no large, confrontational public meetings where outside activists could dominate proceedings, but direct dialogue, honest answers, and a clear position from the city's leadership.
The decision was not without controversy. Some residents expressed concern about safety and about feeling insufficiently consulted, particularly those who had recently purchased plots in the new development. Local councillors from the PVV (far-right), JA21 (right-wing), and the SGP (Christian right) voiced objections. And Geert Wilders himself attempted to intervene nationally, calling on opponents not to accept the decision. Mayor Peter Snijders responded publicly and without hesitation, telling the press that Wilders "could take an example from Zwolle," where the debate had been conducted "with arguments and facts" rather than with intimidation. He accused Wilders of one-dimensional politics and of being inflammatory.
Zwolle’s approach to immigration is as much about integration as it is about control
Peter Snijders, who has led Zwolle since 2019 and was reappointed for a further six-year term in October 2025, is a member of the VVD, the mainstream liberal conservative party, not a party of the left. That is part of what makes his approach notable. His position on refugee reception is not ideological but civic: Zwolle has a responsibility to contribute, he argues, and the question is not whether to do so but how to do it well.
Under the Mayor’s leadership, Zwolle has developed a model that combines practical integration measures, language courses, medical care, access to employment, and support for daily life, with genuine community involvement. The city has consistently prioritised the reception of kansrijke asielzoekers (asylum seekers with strong prospects of being granted status) and statushouders (those already granted status awaiting housing), on the grounds that longer-term residents are more likely to build genuine ties with the surrounding neighbourhood.
In November 2025, this approach was formalised when Zwolle and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) signed a fifteen-year cooperation agreement — an unusually long-term commitment — pledging to create 650 sustainable reception places and to foster genuine connections between the city's newcomers and its wider community.
In his New Year address for 2026, Snijders described a regular Saturday morning programme at City Hall where new residents, including refugees, are formally welcomed into the community. "Hopefully," he said, "among the new Zwollenaren there will also be new friends for all of us."
Zwolle is a role model for the country and beyond
Zwolle's approach drew attention precisely because it ran counter to the national mood at its most anxious. In a country where many municipalities had resisted or blocked the establishment of asylum centres, Zwolle chose a different path: transparent, deliberate, and grounded in the conviction that communities can absorb newcomers if the process is handled with honesty and respect.
The Dutch general election of October 2025, won by Rob Jetten's liberal-progressive D66 party, and the formation of a centrist coalition government in February 2026 suggest that Zwolle's instincts may now be closer to the national mainstream than they appeared a year earlier. On migration, the three coalition parties, D66 (liberal), CDA (centre-right) and VVD (liberal-conservative), still emphasise immigration control but insist that integration must be part of it. Above all, the debate on migration should be conducted with civility, just like Mayor Peter Snijders suggested in the summer of 2025.
Please send us your comments if you support Zwolle. Please insert Zwolle in the subject line.
Candidates for the 2026 Solidarity Prize
Confirmed candidates, as of April 2026: Zwolle, Overijssel, Netherlands || Oliveri, Sicily, Italy || Legazpi, Basque Country, Spain || Northallerton, Yorkshire, UK || Graz, Styria, Austria || Val-de-Reuil, Normandy, France || Montpellier, France || Santo Stefano del Sole, Avellino, Italy || Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany || Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ||
Please nominate further towns and cities. The list of candidates will be updated regularly.
Further reading from The Immigrant Times: Introduction to the Solidarity Prize || Nominees from North America. || Nominess from Europe ||
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