Wednesday, 6 januari 2016
This article was written for Doorbraak, where it is published already in an illustrated version and with even more hyperlinks. It is also a blog piece on Libcom. By the way, happy and subversive new year to all of you
The Netherlands is experiencing a wave of racist, sometimes openly violent, actions and street mobilizations, mainly against refugees and the sheltering of refugees. Street mobilizations of an intimidatory character have occured where municipal councils debate whether to establish an AZC (Asielzoekerscentrum, centre for asylum seekers) or an emergency refugee shelter in their city or town. Small scale violence against houses where refugees live occur repeatedly. Meanwhile, official politics talks about the issue of refugees in a way that portrays them, not als people trying to escape the horrors of war and persecution, but mainly as ‘fortune-hunters’ who only come to the Netherlands to find jobs and social security.