Netherlands: Roma Excluded, Stigmatized and Discriminated

Roma in the Netherlands are excluded, stigmatized and discriminated against. These are results from a report by Thomas Hammarberg, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe who presented in Brussels his report “Human Rights of Roma and Travelers in Europe.” In the Netherlands, Roma and Sinti have poor success in education. A disproportionately high number of them are sent to special education. There is also a problem that they are without any nationality. There is a shortage of places to park their wagons, many of their camps have been dismantled. The Dutch authorities discuss the Roma, but not with them personally. The problems also exist elsewhere in Europe and the discrimination in European countries increases.
www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4492/Nederland/article/detail/3206501/2012/02/28/Ook-Nederland-behandelt-de-Roma-niet-goed.dhtml

More and More Condemned avoid Jail

More than 2,600 people sentenced to jail have avoided incarceration in 2010. This is an increase of 25% as compared to 2009. These results come from an analysis by the EO broadcasting station of data from the Justice Ministry. Many people who are condemned to jail are not in detention when the sentence is pronounced. They are then summoned to come to jail. The sentences of those who did not show up have in the meantime become subject to the statute of limitation, so that their jail time will not be served.
www.powned.tv/nieuws/binnenland/2012/02/veroordeelden_hoeven_niet_in_c.html

Former Dutch EU Commissioner: More Dutchmen Misbehave than Poles

Frits Bolkestein said that he is inclined to start a monitoring website for people who complain about Dutchmen. “There are more Dutchmen who misbehave than Poles.” Bolkestein is a former EU Commissioner and was in the 1990’s political leader of the VVD Liberal Party. His was a reaction to the PVV monitoring website on the misbehavior of Eastern Europeans. Bolkestein also criticized the European Parliament which had asked Dutch Prime Minister Rutte about clarification on the monitoring website. He said that the European Parliament is not the “Mother Superior” of the European Union.
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2012/02/23/bolkestein-over-pvv-meldpunt-wilders-moest-zich-schamen/

Protests Force Netherlands to Stop Afghanistan Mission Temporarily

The Dutch training mission in Kunduz in Afghanistan has been temporarily halted due to the violent protests over the burning of Korans in Afghanistan. So far, 30 people have been killed as a result of the protests, including 4 NATO military personnel. The Dutch trainers are located at a base near Kunduz which is about 4 kilometers from the center of the town where riots took place.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/4905/De-missie-naar-Kunduz/article/detail/3202360/2012/02/25/Kunduz-missie-tijdelijk-stilgelegd-na-Koranprotesten-in-Afghanistan.dhtml

Council of Europe: Dutch Government Should Condemn Monitoring of Eastern Europeans

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland has asked the Dutch government to distance itself from the monitoring website on Middle and Eastern Europeans of the PVV Party. Jagland said that the monitoring website is considered generally xenophobic. Prime Minister Rutte has on various occasions refused to condemn the monitoring website.
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2012/02/22/raad-van-europa-wil-dat-rutte-afstand-neemt-van-pvv-meldpunt/

Forty-Six Thousand Complaints about Eastern Europeans

Recently, the Freedom Party (PVV) put up a monitoring website on the internet for complaints about Middle and Eastern Europeans living in the Netherlands. In an ad it published in the “Volkskrant” daily, the PVV announced that so far 46,000 complaints about disturbances caused by these people have been received. The monitoring website has caused much criticism. Eastern European ambassadors have sent a letter against it to the Dutch government. Also the European Parliament and various European commissioners consider the monitoring site a scandal and discriminatory. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte refuses to condemn the site or to support it. He considers it a party matter.
www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Politiek/330973/Ruim-46.000-klachten-bij-PVVmeldpunt-OostEuropeanen.htm?rss=true

The 29th of February, National Lice Day

The 29th of February is National Lice Day. All parents of elementary school children must check the heads of their children on that day. The National Institute for Popular Health and Environment, (RIVM) will distribute tubes to children with the hope that they will be returned with lice in them. The institute wants to research whether the lice have become resistant to anti-lice products. The last research from 20 years ago found that 250,000 Dutch children suffer from lice. In its project, the RIVM collaborates with the National Support Center for Head Lice (LSH).
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2664/Nieuws/article/detail/974850/2010/02/26/RIVM-gaat-hoofdluizen-verzamelen.dhtml

Police Arrest 129 Soccer Fans in Amsterdam

Before the soccer match between Ajax from Amsterdam and Manchester United took place, Amsterdam police arrested 25 Dutch and British soccer fans in the Amsterdam red light district. The two groups were seeking a confrontation. Earlier, the police had arrested 76 Ajax supporters elsewhere in the town. Also, a group of 54 Belgian soccer fans from the Brussels club Anderlecht were detained on the Rembrandtplein, a central square in Amsterdam. They had come to help the Ajax fans. All in all, 129 fans were arrested. Most of them will have to pay a fine.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2698/2012/article/print/detail/3184940/Politie-arresteert-129-fans-in-Amsterdam.dhtml

Imam Promotes Stoning in Amsterdam

The visiting Shariya expert, Haitham al-Haddad has said in Amsterdam that according to Islam, the punishment for adultery should be stoning to death in Islamic countries. He said that he receives many demands from Western women who have committed adultery to go to an Islamic country in order to be stoned. Originally, he should have spoken at the symposium at the Free University in Amsterdam. The university cancelled it because of the bad publicity. Thereupon, the debating center De Balie invited him to speak as it considers that extreme ideas should be countered with debate. A majority of Parliamentarians was against letting Haitham into the Netherlands because of his incitement against Jews, but according to the responsible minister, forbidding his entrance is against European law.
http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3187680/2012/02/17/Warrig-debat-met-Al-Haddad-in-De-Balie.dhtml

Dutch Parliamentarians Call Each Other ‘Muppets’

During a debate on high speed railways, the Green Left Parliamentarian Ineke Van Gent said about her Labor Party colleague Jacques Monasch that he behaved like one of the old grumblers from the ‘Muppet Show.’ Monash then reacted by saying, “I will not tell you about which Muppet you make me think of.” As Van Gent is a fairly heavy woman, he was obviously referring to Miss Piggy.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/11526987/__Muppetshow_in_Kamer__.html?view=print

Bridges and Floodgates are Easy Targets for Terrorists

The TV program EenVandaag has shown that one can easily operate bridges, floodgates, pumping stations and sewage machinery from a home computer. Security in these areas is exceptionally poor. The National Coordinator of Protection against Terror (NCTB) has for years already warned that many systems in the Netherlands are extremely vulnerable to terrorist and similar attacks. Other experts say the same is true for parking garages and heating systems. A new search machine shows hundreds of such systems which can be hacked with ease. Expert Peter van Rooij said that if security is not improved, the Netherlands is vulnerable to flooding. Eric Luiijf, another expert said that any thirteen year old can stop pumps which could cause major damage.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/11514456/__Sluizen_slecht_beveiligd__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Bridges and Floodgates are Easy Targest for Terrorists

The TV program EenVandaag has shown that one can easily operate bridges, floodgates, pumping stations and sewage machinery from a home computer. Security in these areas is exceptionally poor. The National Coordinator of Protection against Terror (NCTB) has for years already warned that many systems in the Netherlands are extremely vulnerable to terrorist and similar attacks. Other experts say the same is true for parking garages and heating systems. A new search machine shows hundreds of such systems which can be hacked with ease. Expert Peter van Rooij said that if security is not improved, the Netherlands is vulnerable to flooding. Eric Luiijf, another expert said that any thirteen year old can stop pumps which could cause major damage.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/11514456/__Sluizen_slecht_beveiligd__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Bomb Threat Causes Chaos at Amsterdam Airport

A bomb threat caused chaos at Amsterdam airport on Monday afternoon. A man shouted that he had explosives with him and locked himself in a bathroom. Several halls at the airport were emptied for a number of hours and many flights were delayed. After two hours, the man was arrested. It turned out that he was a Russian who did not have a bomb, nor did he have any identity papers on him.
www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4324/Nieuws/article/detail/3176202/2012/02/13/Verdachte-bommelding-Schiphol-aangehouden.dhtml

Satirical Website taken down due to Verbal Abuse

A satirical website which asked people to complain about people from Limburg had to be quickly closed because of the many negative reactions it received. The site was meant as an answer to the site of the PVV Party where one could complain about Polish and other Eastern European workers. However, the site on Limburg was taken seriously and there was much verbal abuse about people from the province. Therefore, the initiator closed it down.
www.powned.tv/nieuws/tech/2012/02/meldpunt_limburgers_gesloten.html

PVV Establishes Website for Complaints about Eastern Europeans

The PVV has launched a website where one can register complaints about Middle and Eastern Europeans in the Netherlands. It formulates questions such as: “Have you experienced hindrance from workers from Middle or Eastern European countries?” and “Have you lost your job to a Pole, Bulgarian or Rumanian?” PVV Parliamentarian Ino van de Besselaar said that the party wants to get an insight into the role of Middle and Eastern Europeans in “criminality, alcoholism, the use of drugs, the dumping of household refuse and prostitution.” The Polish Ambassador Janusz Stanczyk has sent his protest to PVV Party Leader Geert Wilders.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/2012/article/print/detail/3164083/PVV-verzamelt-klachten-over-Oost-Europese-arbeiders.dhtml

Half of Dutch Population Overweight

Health Minister Edith Schippers is worried about the increasing number of Dutch people who are overweight. The National Institute for Health and Environment RIVM, has recently undertaken research which shows that almost 60% of the male population is overweight and 44% of the female population is overweight. One out of 7 in these groups is so overweight that there are serious risks to their health.
http://nos.nl/artikel/335559-meer-dan-helft-nederlanders-te-dik.html

Minister: Dutch Railways Remain Vulnerable in Bad Weather

Minister of Infrastructure Schultz (Liberals) has written to Parliament stating that the Dutch railway system will always remain vulnerable in cases of extreme weather. The minister admitted that the reliability of the infrastructure and communication system to travelers had not been adequate last Friday and Saturday during the cold winter weather. Earlier, the minister had promised that there would be improvements in the rail service in winter conditions.

http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2680/Economie/article/detail/3161060/2012/02/07/Minister-Schultz-Spoor-blijft-kwetsbaar-bij-extreem-weer.dhtml

Teachers Need Training against Aggression

Sjoerd Slagter, Chairman of the VO-raad, the national umbrella organization of high schools said that “In many schools, there is an authority crisis. Teachers do not know how they have to deal with physical and mental violence from students. Also, aggressive parents cause an increase in tensions in schools. They also undermine the authority of teachers.” The VO-raad therefore started together with the Radboud University a special course for teachers to arm themselves mentally against violence.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/11454144/__Leraar_krijgt_agressietraining__.html?sn=binnenland

Fraudulent Professor Received 2 Million Euro in Research Grants

Psychology Professor Diederik Stapel, who had to leave Tilburg University because he invented research data on a large scale has received in total 2.2 million Euro in research grants from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NOW). This has been said by the Chairman of the NWO, Jos Engelen.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2672/Wetenschap-Gezondheid/article/detail/3156400/2012/02/04/Frauderende-Stapel-kreeg-2-2-miljoen-subsidie-van-NWO.dhtml

Huge Criminality among Antillean and Moroccan Immigrants

The Social and Cultural Planning Bureau (SCP) concludes in a report that criminality is the biggest problem for integration of immigrants in the Netherlands. The SCP calls the share of the Antillean and Moroccan youngsters in criminality ‘shocking.’ Of all Moroccan male youngsters between the ages of 12 and 23, 65% have been arrested at least once. Non-Western immigrants receive 6 times more Social Security than autochthonous Dutch.

http://www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Nederland/329558/SCP-Aantal-Marokkanen-in-criminaliteit-schrikbarend.htm?rss=true

Almost All Chicken in Supermarkets Infected with Dangerous Bacteria

The consumer organization Consumentenbond said that almost all filet of chicken in supermarkets is infected with the ESBL bacteria. The organization sees this bacteria - which is resistant to almost all antibiotics, as “one of the greatest food threats in the Netherlands.” The problem is wider in industrial chicken farms than in biological chicken growing.
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2012/01/31/bijna-alle-kip-in-supermarkt-besmet-hoe-gevaarlijk-is-dat/

Police Website Gives Access to Female Escort Firm

On the national website of the Dutch police, a text pop-up occasionally flashes which says: “You are now visiting the website of a female escort firm.” That firm is suspected of human trafficking. The police say that this is not a result of hacking, but of faulty planning of the website.
www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Binnenland/article/detail/3148102/2012/01/31/Politie-nl-meldde-urenlang-u-bezoekt-een-website-van-een-escortbureau.dhtml