The Impossible Life in the Netherlands: How the Minorities cope with the National Memory of Dutch Co

The cultural self-determination and strong nationalism are still persistent in the Netherlands. Besides, part of the figurative genetic and ideological distinctions is demonstrated against Dutch post-colonial citizens. Intense forms of violent repression and discrimination against minorities remain standard social and political practices in order to retain the ethnic balance in the state.

Abomination and Cruelty against Minorities in the Netherlands

Despite that a 42 year old man from Aruba was murdered as a result of intense police violence in late June 2015 in the Netherlands, the case has not been largely discussed by the local and international media. The death of Mr. Mitch Henriquez has occurred subsequently after a night at the Park Festival in Zuiderpark in The Hague. According to the public prosecutor the man has resisted arrest after claiming that he has a weapon. He found his vital end in the city hospital as result of used force by the police authorities. The officials from the Dutch public prosecution department stated that the death of Henriquez`s has been caused by asphyxiation.

The shape of police brutality expressed against the Aruban citizen in The Hague is not a single case. The Amnesty International Report 2014/15 – Netherlands proclaims that the Dutch civil force practices are strongly related to specific genetic characteristics such as age, colour of skin and ethnic origins. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, numerous non-governmental organizations and international agencies continue to demonstrate their concern towards the matter of ethnic profiling by law enforcement institutions and the absence of clear guidelines to avoid racial profiling. In response, the Dutch government and the police authorities have refused to commit the ethnic profiling as discriminatory.

Origins of the Dutch Discrimination

Discrimination represents major component in the Nederland`s institutional structures but this issue is not only associated with the current national affairs. The Dutch colonial era is known in world`s history with the first Dutch expedition round the Cape of Good Hope to the East (1595) and the foundation of the Dutch East India Company (1602) which had laid the process of establishment various trading posts around the globe including areas in North America, the Caribbean region, South and West Africa and Asia.

Initially, the Dutch colonialism is distinguished by the other Catholic nations due to its highly pragmatic and commercial goals, i.e. at once when Spain had struggled to impose the Catholicism over Europe and Latin America and the Portuguese had initiated several Roman Catholic missions in Southeast Asia, the Dutch invaders had relied mainly on geo-political expansion. However, the Dutch merchant initiatives around the world have been also supported by practices such as subordination of the natives (slave-trade) and seizing the natural goods in the areas of interest (minerals, gold, metal and diamonds).

With the decolonisation of the regions under Dutch influence, many immigrants had come to the Netherlands during the 40s and 50s of the 20th century, i.e. approximately 20 000 inhabitants in 1950, 30 000 individuals in 1958 and 15 000 people in 1962. The poor economic conditions in the post-colonial states and the educational and employment opportunities which the Netherlands offers had leaded to even greater immigration flows in the European country during the 80s. These drastic socio-economic changes had also immensely affected the Dutch polities.

Emergence and Expansion of Far-Right Extremism in the Netherlands

Right-wing politics in the Netherlands are not simply represented by certain political circles. They are incorporated in the daily routines of many citizens through the present existence of numerous far-right extremist groups and civil formations.

Originally, the far-right groups and movements in the state had evolved from the active during the 90s “Centre movement”. This particular movement has involved political parties with similar xenophobe and nationalist ideologies such as Central Democrats (Centrum Democraten), Central Party (Centrum Partij), the National Alliance (Nationale Alliantie), the New National Party (Nieuwe Nationale Partij) and the New Right (Nieuw Rechts). The Centre movement has achieved a considerable political success in 1994 when the fraction has occupied three seats in the Lower House of the Dutch bicameral Parliament. After the disappearance of the New National Party from the Feijenoord city council in Rotterdam in 2006, the Centre movement also had retreated from the national politics.

Currently, two major far-right parties are acquiring a real success in the Netherlands: the Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn – LPF) and Party of the Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid – PVV). In contrast to the short term prosperity of the Pim Fortuyn List in 2002, the Party of the Freedom leaded by Geert Wilders is still reaching great results on both local and international political scene. The party has become the third largest in the House of Representatives, i.e. the formal Lower House in the Dutch Parliament by taking 24 seats after the general election of June 2010. Party of the Freedom has also appeared to become third political power in the elections of European Parliament in 2014 since it won 4 out of 26 seats intended for the Netherlands.

In addition, the Dutch far-right niche involves other extreme formations and revolutionary activist units such as the established in 2002 Racial Volunteer Force (C-18 section of Blood and Honour - RVF), the National Socialist Action/ Autonomous National Socialists (de Nationale Socialistische Aktie/Autonome Nationale Socialisten - NSA/ANS) (2008). The Dutch society is also overwhelmed by the anti-multicultural group Voorpost and the Netherlands National Youth (de Nationale Jeugd Nederland - NJN) (2010).

Does the Dutch Far-Right Extremism Really Work?

The highly nationalist civil expressions and drastic institutional practices in the Netherlands had made the living conditions of the Dutch post-colonial citizens extremely arduous. Since the significant increase of ethnic minorities in the state numerous factors have been set in front the local administration, e.g. differences in culture and level of education, lack of language knowledge, labour experience and slow process of adaptation. In this sense, the emergence and expansion of far-right extremism among the nation of such disturbing nature can be recognized as a collective fail regarding the acceptance and integration of immigrants with common Dutch historical background by the natives. Further serious measures should be undertaken in order to prevent the appearance of future cases similar to the accident in The Hague and to achieve improvement of the social standards in the Netherlands.

References:

Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2014/15 – Netherlands, 25 February 2015, available at: <http://www.refworld.org/docid/54f07dbaa.html> (27.07.2015)

General Intelligence and Security Service. Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Right- wing extremism and the extreme right in the Netherlands, March 2011, available at: <https://www.aivd.nl/english/publications-press/@2798/right-wing-extremism/> (29.07.2015)

Houtzager, D. LL. M. & Rodrigues, R. P. (2002), Migrants, Minorities and Employment in the Netherlands: Exclusion, Discrimination and Anti- Discrimination. Netherlands: Dutch Monitoring Centre on Racism and xenophobia.

Keesmaat, K. “Another police murder in the Netherlands”, libcom.org, July 2015, <https://libcom.org/news/another-police-murder-netherland-01072015> (27.07.2015)

Oostindie, G. & Paasman, B. (1998) “Dutch Attitudes Towards Colonial Empires, Indigenous Cultures, and Slaves”, Eighteenth - Century Studies, Vol. 31, No 3, pp. 349-355.

Van Kessel, S. (2011), “Explaining the electoral performance of populist parties: the Netherlands as a case study” in Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 12 (1), pp. 68 - 88.