Labor Party Alderman: The Hague Has to Take Stronger Position Against Migrants

Marnix Norder, Alderman of the Labor Party (PvdA) in The Hague, has said that migrants in The Hague must integrate within one generation. If they don’t, they should pay fines and their social payments should be reduced. These plans have been included in the integration document of The Hague municipality. The municipality states that migrants without work or other income should return to their country of origin. He mentioned that the irritation among the autochthonous population is increasing. Norder also mentioned that politicians have neglected this issue since the 1970’s.

www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Nederland/287936/Den-Haag-Strenger-optreden-tegen-migranten.htm?rss=true

Four Amsterdam Hotels Among the Ten Dirtiest in Europe

The Travel Experience site "Tripadvisor" has published the ten dirtiest hotels in Europe. Out of the ten dirtiest, four are in Amsterdam, in places six, seven, nine and ten. One comment written on Number 7 was: “I prefer to sleep in a telephone booth.” Last year, there was only one Amsterdam hotel among the dirtiest ten. The dirtiest hotel in Europe is in Turkey, 91% of those who make comments on that hotel gave a negative opinion. According to the visitors, whenever it rains, sewage water runs into the swimming pools.

www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3395912.ece/Amsterdam_scoort_goed_in_top_tien_smerigste_hotels.html

Four Hundred People Abused While in Foster Care Institutions and Foster Homes

The Commission of Inquiry headed by Rieke Samson, investigates abuse of youngsters in foster care. So far, 400 people have complained about sexual abuse to the commission. This concerns children who were placed outside of their families by a judge. This abuse is all the more painful as it concerns children who have also been neglected or abused by their biological parents.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/4244/Misbruik-op-creches/article/detail/1827740/2011/01/25/Ruim-400-jongeren-misbruikt-in-instellingen.dhtml

Liberals: Stop the Influx of Non-Western Immigrants Into The Hague

The Liberal Party (VVD) faction in The Hague municipal council requested a temporary stop on the influx of non-Western immigrants into the town. Municipal Council Member Arjen Lakerveld said that the large number of non-Western immigrants in The Hague puts tremendous pressure on social services. There is no solution unless the influx of poor people is stopped. The Liberal Party says that the so-called Rotterdam Law can be applied. This means that an alderman of a town can request from the minister that he assign certain areas of a town where people interested in housing there must have a certain minimum income. The VVD wants this law to apply to the entire town. However if that isn’t possible, it has listed seven neighborhoods where it should be applied.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/1827865/2011/01/25/VVD-Den-Haag-wil-allochtonenstop-voor-de-stad.dhtml

Taliban: If Dutch Send Police to Afghanistan, They Will Be Attacked

A spokesman of the Taliban has told RTL News that if the Netherlands sends police for a training mission to Afghanistan, they will become the target of attacks. He called on the Netherlands not to send new troops to the country. The Netherlands plan to send 90 Dutchmen to Afghanistan in March to prepare the mission. It is however, far from certain that the Dutch Parliament will approve this mission.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8825344/__Taliban_dreigt_met_slachtoffers__.html?p=27,1

Amsterdam Mayor: Societal Climate in Amsterdam Gets Tougher

Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan, is of the opinion that the societal climate in Amsterdam has become tougher in recent years. While the number of criminal acts is declining, violence is increasing. He opined that one suffers more from it. He also mentioned that about 600 youngsters have been arrested in the past five years approximately 15,000 times. This translates into about 25 arrests per person. Van der Laan is also worried about the possession of weapons.

www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/binnenland/2011/01/van_der_laan_amsterdam_wordt_h.html

Wikileaks: Dutch Official Asked Americans to Pressure Deputy Prime Minister

From a Wikileaks document, it emerges that in 2009 a high Dutch official (Richard van Zwol) working at the ministry of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende (Christian Democrat), had a conversation in Brussels with U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder. In it, he advised the ambassador to pressure Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos (Labor) to agree with the prolongation of the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan. The official said that the ambassador should explain to him that such an agreement would be good for Bos’ international career. The Labor Party has asked for clarification.

www.trouw.nl/nieuws/politiek/article3387351.ece/_VS_moest_Bos_onder_druk_zetten_.html

Survey: Dutch is a Jealous Nation

Only 25% of the Dutch are never jealous. This results from a poll by the Nouveau paper. Jealousy expresses itself mainly as far as looks are concerned. Both men and women compare themselves more with others as far as talents are concerned - such as musicality, speaking a foreign language or a talent for singing. This concerns 35% of the respondents. 85% of women admit that it is easy to be jealous as opposed to 75% of men.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/vrouw/psyche_relatie/8766367/__Nederlander_een_jaloers_volk__.html?view=print

Committee Report: Judges Were Poorly Prepared for Wilders Trial

The Meijerink Commission has made a report of the organization of the court case against Geert Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party. The report says that the judges were insufficiently prepared for the pressure which resulted from the major media attention to the trial. The judges were also insufficiently aware that their behavior would be analyzed according to whether they were politically prejudiced. Ultimately at the request of Wilders’ lawyer, another panel of judges dismissed the court and the trial will be redone with a new court.

www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3383365.ece/Rechtbank_trekt_lessen_uit_Wildersproces.html

Dutch Official Suggested to Americans to Murder African Leader

In 2008, Wepke Kingma, a top official of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs had advised the United States to murder Ugandan Militia Leader Joseph Kony. This was published by the Dutch National Television NOS, on the basis of a news item from Wikileaks of the American Embassy in the Netherlands. Kony was heading a militia which killed or maimed tens of thousands of people in Uganda, the northeast Congo and the southern Sudan.

www.parool.nl/parool/nl/225/BUITENLAND/article/detail/1825382/2011/01/17/Topambtenaar-wilde-militieleider-Kony-dood.dhtml

Liberal Parliamentarian: Turkey Should Stop Interfering in Dutch Affairs

The Liberal Party requests that Turkey stop interfering with the integration of Turks in Dutch society. They asked for clarification from Minister of Immigration and Asylum Leers (Christian Democrat) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rosenthal (Liberal) about the statement by Turkish Minister Celik who expressed his pessimism about the integration chances of Turks in the Netherlands. According to Celik who is responsible for Turks abroad, the tough Dutch immigration and integration policy are important reasons for the problems which many Turkish Dutch youngsters experience. According to the Liberals, it is the strong link with Turkey and Turkey-related organizations which are negatively affecting the integration of Turkish Dutchmen. Parliamentarian Ten Broeke said: “Celik puts the responsibility for delinquent Turkish youngsters on the [Dutch] authorities. That is topsy-turvy. The responsibility lies with the youngsters themselves and it seems to me that Turkey can learn a lot from the Dutch youth and integration policy.”

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8732108/__Turkije_tot_de_orde_roepen__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Minister Requested Foreign Pressure on Colleague

Former Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop (Christian Union) admitted that in 2009 he had asked foreigners to exert pressure on his colleague Wouter Bos then Minister of Finance (Labor Party), to agree with the prolongation of the presence of Dutch soldiers in the NATO forces in Afghanistan. He added that he considered such action completely normal. He also added that he did not know who caused US Vice President Biden to call Bos on this matter.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8741808/__Van_Middelkoop_wilde_druk__.html

Trade Union: Employers Fire Workers to Re-Employ Them Irregularly

Agnes Jongerius, head of the FNV major trade union says that employers abuse legislation in order to fire workers which they then re-employ as part-timers or flexible time workers. Research by the FNV bears this out. Seventy per cent of these workers who were fired and re-employed, received worse conditions. Sixty per cent have not voluntarily chosen this type of contract and almost half earn less than full employees in similar functions. The trade union will raise this issue with the minister of social affairs.

www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3373506.ece/FNV_schrikt_van_gesjoemel_met_flexwerkers.html

National Debt Increases

In 2010, the Netherlands has fallen out of the top ten countries in the world with the lowest risk of national debt. This results from the new ranking list by Credit Market Analysis. In 2009, the Netherlands still occupied the fifth place behind Norway, Germany, Finland and France. In the course of the past year, the national debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product has increased from about 45% to 67%.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2680/Economie/article/detail/1789883/2011/01/07/Nederland-uit-top-10-met-laagste-schuldrisico.dhtml

Manifest: Status of Turkish Dutch Youngsters Raises Much Concern

A group of Turkish experts and professionals has published a manifest on the position of Turkish Dutch youngsters stating that it is cause for much concern. Their connection with Dutch society is rapidly declining, thus the danger exists that these youngsters will enter into societal isolation. The group says that more and more Turkish Dutch youngsters say that they will never become part of Dutch society. They consider that they are less appreciated in school and in the labor market. About one out of four Turkish Dutch youngsters of the second generation are unemployed. A large part of Turkish Dutch youngsters leave high school before completion.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/1790349/2011/01/10/Manifest-Turks-Nederlandse-professionals-Problematiek-jongeren-zeer-verontrustend.dhtml

Heavy Criticism on Amsterdam Police Chief

Chief Commissioner of Police Bernard Welten, has come under heavy criticism. He has said that despite the new announced law against wearing burkas in public, the Amsterdam police will not arrest women who wear burkas. The majority of Parliament is of the opinion that Welten has to take back his statements and needs to present his apologies. Welten’s direct boss, Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said that if this law will be passed, the Amsterdam Police will enforce it. The Amsterdam Police Union (APV) has called Welten’s statement “unwise.” APV Chairman, Bert Verdijk said that in his position, Welten shouldn’t make statements about government policy.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8662096/__Welten_wekt_woede__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Province: Many of Our Dykes Are Too Low and Not Stable

The Province of Limburg has informed Deputy Minister Joop Atsma of Infrastructure and Environment that many dykes are too low and are not stable enough according to the new norms of 2005. Most of the Province’s dykes do not meet the national standards for security. The Province says that the ministry has to finance the further improvement of the dykes which will enable all dykes to meet national standards by 2020.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8646591/__Dijken_te_laag__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Firework Bombs Increasingly Resemble Terrorist Explosives

The Dutch public prosecution is increasingly preoccupied with home-made fireworks bombs which have begun to resemble explosives used by terrorists. The Justice Department admits that it is increasingly unable to deal with this matter. On New Year’s Eve, one 17 year old was killed when his home-made fireworks bomb exploded too early. The projectile included nitrate bombs, nails and lead. A 13 year old boy was killed by another firebomb. His father is suspected of having lit that bomb. The number of Dutch internet sites which give detailed instructions on how to prepare such bombs is increasing.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8640832/__Vuurwerkterreur_door_hobbyist__.html

Copts in Netherlands Require Extra Security

The National Coordinator for the Fight Against Terrorism (NCTb) has asked regional police corps to watch Coptic Orthodox churches in the Netherlands more carefully. These measures are due to the attack on the al-Qissiddin Church in Alexandria where 21 Egyptian Copts were murdered by Muslims. The spokesman of the NCTb said that these measures are unrelated to the appearance of a list on the internet where possible terrorist targets are mentioned including Coptic churches. These include Coptic churches in Eindhoven Utrecht, and Amsterdam.

www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3363784.ece/NCTb_houdt_situatie_kopten_in_de_gaten.html

Minister Criticizes Dutch Ambassador

Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal (Liberals) has criticized Dutch Ambassador Robert Serry who serves as representative of the United Nations for the Middle East. Serry had said that the statements of Dutch Freedom Party Leader Geert Wilders about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict served the interests of Osama bin Laden and other radical Muslims. Rosenthal said that diplomats should be careful and not make statements which can lead to wrong associations.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/8554661/__Kritiek_Rosenthal_op_Serry__.html

Hundreds of Suspects for New Year’s Eve Misbehavior to be Investigated

Deputy Minister of Security and Justice, Fred Teeven (Liberals) has published preliminary figures about New Year’s Eve misbehavior. The police have transferred to the prosecution 642 files of suspects. Of these, 243 are suspected of violence against people and 115 of violence against public functionaries such as policemen, ambulance workers and firemen. In the other cases concerned crimes such as vandalism and arson. Speed justice will be applied this week in the Hague Rotterdam and Amsterdam Utrecht.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2664/2011/article/print/detail/1787420/Teeven-minder-incidenten-nog-187-verdachten-in-cel.dhtml