AMSTERDAM: Orange smoke flares burning and draped in the Dutch red, white, and blue flag, masked men rampage through the streets chanting “Wij zijn Nederland” — “We are the Netherlands.”
Even Amsterdam, known for its tolerance, got a taste on October 12 of a violent demonstration against immigration that has hit many Dutch cities ahead of elections on Wednesday.
As in many European countries, immigration is the hot political issue in the Netherlands, and has dominated campaigning in the run-up to the October 29 election.
Polls suggest the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by firebrand Geert Wilders could again top the vote with his anti-Islam, anti-immigration message.
“Immigration is going to be a big factor in how I’m going to vote,” said nurse Bianca de Vos.
“I find it very important to help people, but it doesn’t have to happen here, because here it’s too full,” the 51-year-old told AFP.
Like many voters, De Vos links immigration to the other hot-button topic in Dutch politics: a housing crisis that means many young people struggle to find accommodation.
“My son and youngest daughter can’t get houses because it’s too full,” said De Vos, amid anger over a perception that asylum-seekers get priority for low-cost housing.
‘Scapegoats’
Lolkje de Vries, spokeswoman for Vluchtelingenwerk, a group that helps refugees and asylum-seekers, said she understands that perception.
“We do have a housing crisis in the Netherlands, there’s a shortage of social housing,” De Vries told AFP.
“But if we look at the numbers, then we see that less than 10 percent of social housing” goes to those granted asylum, she noted.
De Vries said refugees and asylum-seekers are “scapegoats for all kinds of problems” facing The Netherlands.
In fact, they have to endure lengthy waits for asylum claims to be assessed, she said, leading to psychological problems and difficulty integrating into society.
Marcel Lubbers, political science expert at the University of Utrecht, said scapegoating immigrants was an ancient phenomenon that far-right parties have seized on.
“The dissatisfaction with issues of migration, and with questions of identity and belonging have been relevant for many people since the 1980s and 1990s,” he told AFP.
“And this is now very successfully mobilized by parties on the radical right,” added Lubbers, noting the success of far-right politicians in France, Britain, Germany, and Italy.
‘Fed up’
The most recent figures from the Dutch Statistics Agency (CBS) showed that 316,000 people migrated to the Netherlands in 2024, a decline of 19,000 compared to the previous year.
According to data published last month by the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), first-time asylum requests dropped from 49,892 in 2003 to 45,639 — an 8.5-percent decline.
But the topic continues to dominate political discourse and even caused Wednesday’s early elections.
Wilders collapsed the previous cabinet, pulling out the PVV in frustration over slow progress in delivering “the strictest immigration policy ever.”
He had proposed closing the Dutch border to asylum-seekers, bolstering border controls, and expelling people with double nationality convicted of a crime.
Many political and legal experts dismissed the plans as illegal or impractical.
“People are fed up with mass immigration and the influx of people who really do not culturally belong here,” Wilders told AFP in an interview ahead of the elections.
“If you ask many Dutchmen today, or in many other countries, they feel strangers in their own land, strangers in their own neighborhood, strangers in their own city or village,” he said.
Anger at asylum-seekers has tipped into violence in several towns as people protesting against temporary shelters near their home clashed with police.
Violence also erupted in September when anti-immigration demonstrators rioted in The Hague, vandalising the offices of center-left party D66.
De Vries from Vluchtelingenwerk acknowledged the “hardening” of opinion in the Netherlands.
“At the same time, it’s important to note that we’re also seeing a rise in people that are willing to support refugees in the Netherlands, especially now,” she told AFP.
Immigration, asylum, take center stage in Dutch election
https://arab.news/9775z
Immigration, asylum, take center stage in Dutch election
- As in many European countries, immigration is the hot political issue in the Netherlands
Italian PM pledges to deepen cooperation with African states
- The plan, launched in 2024, aims to promote investment-led cooperation rather than traditional aid
ADDIS ABABA: Italy pledged to deepen cooperation with African countries at its second Italy-Africa summit, the first held on African soil, to review projects launched in critical sectors such as energy and infrastructure during Italy’s first phase of the Mattei Plan for Africa.
The plan, launched in 2024, aims to promote investment-led cooperation rather than traditional aid.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni addressed dozens of African heads of state and governments in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, and reiterated that a successful partnership would depend on Italy’s “ability to draw from African wisdom” and ensure lessons are learned.
“We want to build things together,” she told African heads of state. “We want to be more consistent with the needs of the countries involved.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Italy had provided Africa with a gateway to Europe through these partnerships.
“This is a moment to move from dialogue to action,” he said.
“By combining Africa’s energetic and creative population with Europe’s experience, technology, and capital, we can build solutions that deliver prosperity to our continents and beyond.”
After the Italy-Africa summit concluded, African leaders remained in Addis Ababa for the annual African Union Summit.
Kenyan writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola said tangible results from such summits depend on preparations made by countries.
African governments often focus on “optics instead of actually making summits a meaningful engagement,” she said.
Instead of waiting for a list of demands, countries should “present the conclusions of an extended period of mapping the national needs” and engage in dialogue to determine how those needs can be met.
Since it was launched two years ago, the Mattei Plan has directly involved 14 African nations and has launched or advanced around 100 projects in crucial sectors, including energy and climate transition, agriculture and food security, physical and digital infrastructure, healthcare, water, culture and education, training, and the development of artificial intelligence, according to the Italian government.
