Provincial elections reveal deep-lying distrust in Dutch politics
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Loading... - Wells Andrew
- 14 Mar 2023
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For the last six months the Silja Europa has been at the eye of a gathering political storm in the harbour village of Velsen-Noord. In September, as the Dutch government frantically tried to fix the chronic overcrowding problem at the national refugee reception centre in Ter Apel, it came up with the idea of accommodating 1,000 people on a stripped-down cruise ship. The municipal council in Velsen, one of the few with the facilities to host a liner, stepped forward. Aware of the sensitivities of mooring a floating asylum hotel next to a community of 5,000 people, councillors agreed a deal with conditions. Classrooms and medical facilities were provided on board to avoid overstraining local services. Electricity was supplied from the shore to keep the air conditioning running. And, crucially, it was a temporary measure. After six months the ship would sail away and the refugees would be rehoused. -ADVERTENTIE- ‘The end date of March 1 was set in stone in the contract,’ says Joost Bleekman, leader of local party Velsen Lokaal. ‘March 1 is March 1, we wouldn’t budge or even ask the question.’ But as the months rolled by, it became clear the government was struggling to find a solution. Junior asylum minister Eric van der Burg had hoped to pass a law that would give him more powers to disperse refugees around the country, but his party colleagues in The Hague fought against it. And so in mid-January, six weeks before the contract expired, Van der Burg made a ‘moral appeal’ to Velsen to extend the deadline. Read More…
