Downtown Amsterdam was the site of a human rights demonstration Saturday, September 30, 2006 which drew UPF-Netherlands supporters to take up the cause of a child detained in Zeist, a nearby town. The rally was organized by the mother of a boy who attended the same school as eight-year-old Hui, a Chinese boy being held with his mother in a detention center for illegal residents. The slogan of the demonstration "Geen kind in de cel" means No Child in a Cell. Supporters at the rally chanted: "Hui belongs here, not in a cell."

Hui’s mother had arrived in the Netherlands more than eight years ago as a refugee but her status had never been finalized. New harsher criteria for the acceptance of refugees into the Netherlands were passed into law in 2001 but the Immigration Service (IND) is making slow progress in reevaluating all applicants. Hui’s mother’s appeal has been rejected, and a judge ruled last week that she must return to China -- with or without her child. But the woman does not have adequate papers to be accepted back into China, even if she chooses to go.

Wim Koetsier, UPF-NL Secretary General, sees this case as another example of how the Netherlands is infected by bad governance, by the practice of an increasing "formalization" by IND Minister Rita Verdonk, who formerly worked at the department of prisons, whose mantra is "Law is Law."

Rally organizer Lenore Molenaar had been moved to act by this incident affecting her own child’s classmate. In just two days she had managed to line up speakers, publicize the rally in the media and arrange permits with city authorities. The first few people she had called for advice had immediately focused on which date would be convenient for themselves; so she had decided to act straight away. She was concerned whether she would be able to find the required 25 stewards that police insisted she must have to allow the demonstration to take place. By Friday evening all 25 stewards were found and everything was set. In speaking with her, Mr. Koestier noted how much the UPF's concept of good governance has in common with her concerns.

Joined by half dozen high school members of HARP, a youth organization affiliated with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), Mr. Koestier and his wife Mihoko and FFWPU-NL Director of Education Hans Campman arrived at Museumplein and accompanied the march to the central square in Amsterdam, where 250 supporters heard short speeches by representatives from the realms of religion, politics, media and voluntary help/NGOs.

One journalist speaker commented that she was ashamed that her colleagues in the media had not drawn attention to this problem long before. And one representative of the Dutch Council of Churches said that while the organization was reluctant to enter into political comment, this case demanded it. Another speaker from"Defense for Children" commented that there was simply no argument that could justify keeping an innocent child in jail.

In fact, we were told, there were nearly 250 children in a similar situation; this one case involving Hui had generated so much media attention only because a children’s TV presenter had heard of it and publicized it. While everyone present was angry when informed of the facts of this case, the atmosphere of the crowd was remarkably good-natured, with Lenore Molenaar receiving a big cheer when she appeared on the stage.

Afterwards Mr. Koetsier commented that although something should have been done previously to limit the number of refugees coming into the Netherlands, the present way of dealing with it was just "formalistic" -- without compassion. He joked that a "Dorothy" was needed to put new heart into the Tin Man, (a reference to the Wizard of Oz). Maybe rally chants could have included "Back down to earth!" It has been estimated that the Dutch economy needs extra workers from abroad; so surely many of these incarcerated refugees could be processed as immigrants on that basis. Since the last elections Dutch citizens had given the Christian party (CDA) opportunity to govern according to its stated principles, but it had not acted on this opportunity. Although the new government was a coalition of parties, most Ministers were members of the CDA; but they were not aggressively protecting human rights and Christian values.

Prime Minister Balkenende had come to power talking of the importance of reestablishing "norms and values" but, while he was a sincere Christian in his private life, his government had abandoned humanitarian principles, stifling the concept of government being the parent and servant of the people. It seemed that fear of political repercussions splitting the coalition and terminating his term in power worked to stop the Prime Minister and his backers from interfering in the policies and practices of the Immigration department under the rule of Verdonk.

In order to stimulate the government to positive change, UPF Netherlands had launched a campaign invoking the spirit of Willem van Oranje (Father of the Fatherland) who led a fight for Dutch independence in the 16th century. His motive had been less to assert national sovereignty than to protect freedom of conscience -- specifically to defend Lutherans and Calvinists in his homeland from persecution by Spanish Roman Catholic forces. This tolerance was thus fundamental to the establishment of the Dutch nation and helped stimulate the Dutch Golden Age, but these noble ideals had been abandoned by the present government.

Willem had sacrificed his fortune for his principles, but the present government seemed only to think of economic growth. This was not healthy for the nation: for example, the Netherlands liked to go to the UN and lecture other countries about human rights; but it was itself becoming a "banana republic." This question of the detention of children was going to be discussed in Parliament the following Tuesday and he felt the impulse to make this point in the Binnenhof with bunches of bananas! What was needed, Mr. Koetsier considered, was a Coalition for the protection and promotion of human rights that would include representatives from various religions and peoples in the Netherlands, and from politics, media, business, voluntary work -- anyone concerned with the need to reassert human rights at the center of Dutch national life. This had been his opinion for some time, and now this issue of eight-year-old Hui held in a detention center might be the catalyst for people of good will to unite, just as it had moved Mrs. Molenaar to put all her normal activities to one side for a couple of days so she could organize this demonstration. She herself had said, "This is just the beginning," adding that she hoped that the success of this demonstration will encourage others to make their voices be heard.

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home