For those uninformed on Dutch daily news (I should see all your hands up!), last week, there were some riots in the neighborhood bordering the one I live in. This is from Paul Belien's "The Brussels Journal":
"Ondiep, a working class neighbourhood, a day after the death of a 54-year old indigenous Dutchman who was shot by a police officer, non-immigrant citizens went on a rampage, burning cars, looting shops and arsoning a community centre.
Apparently Mulder intervened when Muslim youths harassed a pregnant native Dutch woman. He was able to grab the knife of one of the youths. When the police arrived Mulder was shot because he had raised the knife. Witnesses say Mulder was indicating to the police that he had called for them.
Apparently Mulder intervened when Muslim youths harassed a pregnant native Dutch woman. He was able to grab the knife of one of the youths. When the police arrived Mulder was shot because he had raised the knife. Witnesses say Mulder was indicating to the police that he had called for them.
Locals claim the police has failed to protect them for years. They say the authorities are afraid of the immigrants and tolerate their criminal behaviour. After the death of Mulder the indigenous Dutch decided they had had enough and started riots which went on for two continuous nights. The police made 130 arrests: 60 of them are Ondiep residents. According to the mainstream media, the others are mainly “football hooligans” from other parts of the country. Annie Brouwer-Korf, the Socialist mayor of Utrecht, has ordered Ondiep to be sealed off from the rest of town to keep non-residents out. She expressed some sympathy for the frustrated Ondiep residents. 'I understand that residents are sometimes upset about the nuisance around their own house and neighbourhood. That does you no good whatsoever.' "
Ondiep is next to Overvecht, the neighborhood I live in. When M and I returned to Utrecht last week Thursday after 10 days out of town, things were settling down, but we still saw cops on horse patrol, and we saw one of the blockaded checkpoint entrances to the neighborhood. Those fences have since been taken down, but the pain and problems have not been healed and fixed! All this behavior and rioting is a whole different discussion in itself (how the Dutch culture is not as tolerant as the world all thinks it is and the rising issue of native and immigrant relations , and what is 'Dutch integration'....), I think its definitely a sign of the times, and something I keep in mind everyday here when I go out and try to be apart of society...not as a university student and not as a tourist, but as an immigrant resident of Utrecht. It happens in a big way as in Ondiep, or in little ways like at IKEA.
Another relevant issue besides immigrant relations, is this idea of 'trouble neighborhoods'. The Dutch seem to like to be able to rationalize and categorize a lot of things. The Minister for Living, Neighbourhoods and Integration, Ella Vogelaar, presented a list of 40 problem neighbourhoods in all of Holland, on Thursday. How they define and categorize a whole neighborhood, I do not completely know... But even more interesting, is that the neighborhood I live in, is on this list of 40 neighborhoods! Its me! One of the many immigrants in this 'neighborhood' (which is actually a large portion of the north side of Utrecht)! I actually don't think its all that bad here; its definitely not the most quaint of places, just a bunch of mid-rise apartment buildings between 4 and 10 stories high. Its not what you may picture when mentally picturing Holland...not little farm houses along a canal with tulips in front. Its definitely not my idea of 'authentic' Dutch style housing, but it'll have to do on our income (his income!). But, Overvecht is labeled a problem neighborhood...but is it b/c of actual facts, or just reputation?
Good thing my finance is doing his PhD study on such a topic, for the past 2 years already!
I have to go venture out into the neighborhood now to buy some groceries... I hope I will return in one piece...this is such a problem ghetto neighborhood afterall!
For those interested, here is a link with all the 40 problem neighborhoods in the Netherlands, categorized by city.
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