From Moroccan migrant’s son to Rotterdam mayor: Ahmed Aboutaleb’s 15-year journey
At 15, Ahmed Aboutaleb left Morocco to join his father in the Netherlands. He imagined a man who had made a success of his life and could regularly send money to his family. The reality shook him. Fifty years later, the former mayor of Rotterdam recounts how that discovery changed his life.
Money arrived every month from the country where his father had gone to work. For young Ahmed Aboutaleb, who remained in Beni Sidel, in Morocco’s Rif region, these transfers were proof of great success. But when he joined his father in the Netherlands in 1976, with his mother and sisters, the teenager discovered a very different situation.
His father lived in rented accommodation in the Laak district of The Hague. Above all, he barely spoke Dutch, with just enough vocabulary to communicate with his employer. In the end, he knew very little about the country where he had been working for years.
“My disappointment was immense,” Ahmed Aboutaleb tells Volkskrant Magazine in an interview, published Saturday, October 10.
“They put a broom straight into your hands”
This discovery did not diminish his respect for his father. Aboutaleb describes him as an intelligent man who could have achieved a better position if he had had the chance to study. But immigrant workers rarely get that opportunity.
“In the Netherlands, when you’re a foreigner, they often put a broom straight into your hands,” he laments. In his view, almost no one tries to find out what these newcomers are capable of.
The teenager then makes a decision: to seize every opportunity to learn. He attends community centers to learn Dutch, pursues technical studies and meets teachers who recognize his abilities.
That determination leads him to journalism, then public service and politics. After serving as deputy mayor of Amsterdam and state secretary for social affairs, he becomes mayor of Rotterdam in 2009. He will lead the city for fifteen years.
But this success comes with constant pressure. Aboutaleb says he made a rule for himself that he must not fail, aware that his Moroccan origins meant every move he made would attract particular scrutiny. His dual nationality, in particular, drew attacks when he took on political responsibilities.
At 65, the former mayor is preparing a series of lectures to mark the 50th anniversary of his arrival in the Netherlands on October 17. A new edition of his memoir, “Thuis,” is being published to mark the occasion. He also speaks of his attachment to his native village, where he had his father’s house renovated and supported several local projects.
