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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE September 25, 2007
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 23, 2007 |
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Peace Boats Not Detention Boats! Fighting for the freedom of migrants |
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| Japanese participants came ready to protest for migrants’ freedom |
Across The Netherlands, thousands of innocent people are having their freedom taken away. By 2008, 5,000 are expected to be locked up, some in “prison ships”—boats containing cramped cells and crude facilities used to detain people. Those imprisoned are not criminals. They will not be prosecuted. All they have done is to try and find a better life in a country once known for welcoming immigrants. However, in this nation often admired for its progressive social policies, migrants without papers are now being detained without trial in appalling conditions. As Peace Boat anchored in Amsterdam, one group of participants went to learn more and to visit these boats so different to their own. |
site design imagesparkle.com |
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| The idyllic image of windmills and tulips masks The Netherlands treatment of migrants |
From the heart of a vibrant community action centre just south of the port, Tan Paul Smit showed that around half of Dutch people have migrant backgrounds. Yet, an increasingly hostile attitude towards immigrants is fuelling a policy to lock up those who are not officially registered. They are labelled “illegals” by the press and politicians alike, but the detained migrants have not broken any Dutch law. Still, the negative image painted by the government and media has led many Dutch citizens to forget that most migrants come for the same reasons as their parents or grandparents before them. “They are simply here because they want to send money home to support their families” said Mr. Smit, “or they are fleeing from danger”. |
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| Thousands of migrants are already imprisoned in detention centres like this, near Schipol Airport |
The Netherlands already detains more migrants per person than any other country – with many more living in fear that they will be next. At a support group run by All Included, a migrants’ welfare group, participants got the chance to meet with women and mothers caught in the undocumented trap. “Sometimes I try to get a job to support myself and my baby, but even a cleaning job without documents can cause a problem,” explained Loretta, fearful of speaking out and being reported. She was even refused medical help during her pregnancy because of her status. In the face of this prejudice, Loretta tried to return to Jamaica, but was denied entry documents for her daughter who was not born there. Now her child has no citizenship and no state support. Both continue to struggle in the shadows of society, afraid that detention is just around the corner. |
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| All Included inspired the participants’ protest, calling for “Peace Boats, not detention boats!” |
Life in the detention centers is so harsh it compelled one judge to limit confinement to six months. “They are considered to be worse than prisons!” exclaimed Vincent Andre Francois de Jong, the head of All Included. “There is no privacy and no space for exercise” he noted. Moreover, detainees are kept in their cells for 16 hours every day, with only one hour’s respite outside in a cage-like enclosure. Despite their inhumanity, two new detention boats have been built in Zaandam near Amsterdam, ready to imprison another 600 immigrants from September.
All Included is leading the fight back. “We want to be more positive and have an open approach to migration,” asserts Vincent, realizing that with globalization bringing more people to The Netherlands, detention is not a fair or long term solution. That’s why they decided to occupy the detention boats for a day in protest and to raise awareness among local residents, many of whom did not know of their presence. Inspired by their action, the Japanese participants joined forces with All Included to fight for the migrants’ right to freedom. |
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| Police try to block the demonstrators from highlighting the sensitive issue of immigrant detention |
Piling out of the long red bus with flyers and placards, the participants kept up the public pressure at the scenic Zaans Museum, informing visitors and passers-by. Onwards to the nearby detention boats, the group began to raise their voices, chanting “Peace Boats not detention boats!” But the demonstrators were soon met by a police blockade. “They are trying to keep it away from the media” explained Vincent after initially being denied entry, though after some negotiation, Japanese participants were granted limited access to get a close up look at the detention boats – not noticeable at first because they merge into the greyness of the surrounding industrial estate. |
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| Two participants pray as they remember those who died at Schipol |
Continuing their protest, the party headed to Schipol Airport detention centre where hundreds of migrants are already being held. Eleven people died here in 2005 when a fire quickly spread in the cramped conditions. From beyond the high fence, participants remembered the victims, reading out their names and attaching a thousand cranes to the railings – a Japanese symbol of peace. Through its metal mesh, the waving hands of those trapped within could just be seen. Perhaps seeing the support of people who had travelled so far – just as they did to reach The Netherlands – gave them some new hope.
Read more about All Included’s work to give migrants their freedom at:
www.allincluded.nl
All photos by Yaqoub BouAynaya. |
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