School went to Saudi Arabia on taxpayers’ money

Some 200 residents of Rotterdam and environs have been on a pilgrimage to Mecca at the government’s expense. An Islamic school used 201,429 euros of subsidies from the education ministry to pay for trips to Saudi Arabia for Muslims. Ibn Ghaldoun, an Islamic schools organisation in Rotterdam, organised several trips to Saudi Arabia for the [...]

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Limburg’s capital Maastricht

Visitors to Maastricht will find bustling streets, a lively international atmosphere, pavement cafés, good food and good shopping, coupled with 20 centuries of history, art, culture, historic buildings and tradition to match. Read full article: Expatica Netherlands, 27 November 2007

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Netherlands has poor work atmosphere

Violence, pestering and intimidation in the workplace occur more in the Netherlands than in any other EU country, according to the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) by EFILWC, a European Union research institute. According to EWCS, employees in the Netherlands and Finland face a relatively large degree of pestering, violence or intimidation at work (8 [...]

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Anne Frank tree saved for now

An Amsterdam court has ruled that there is no need to cut the Anne Frank tree. The judge ruled in favour of local residents and a foundation dedicated to the saving of the tree which applied for a temporary injunction. The chestnut tree that Anne Frank wrote about in her diary has been the subject [...]

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Iran presents ‘evidence’ against Dutch citizen

The Iranian embassy says it has admissions of guilt signed by Abdullah al-Mansouri, a naturalised Dutch citizen who has been held in an Iranian prison since last year. ‘Evidence’ of his involvement in a number of attacks in Iran where he was born have been shown to the press for the first time. The incriminating [...]

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Wider powers to use fingerprints of foreign nationals to trace offenders

The Dutch police and judicial authorities will be given wider powers to use fingerprints of foreign nationals for the detection of crime, according to a letter submitted by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin to the Lower House of Parliament today. These wider powers will help the police and judicial authorities compare fingerprints obtained during the [...]

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IDs for former asylum seekers

Former asylum seekers who do not have a passport and have applied for regular residence will from now on receive a document with which they can prove their identity. The ‘W2′ document includes the identity, nationality and residence status of the immigrant, according to the letter sent by Dutch Justice State Secretary Nebahat Albayrak to [...]

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Sinterklaas more generous than Santa

Sinterklaas still seems more popular than Santa Claus. The Dutch intend to spend more on Sinterklaas presents than on Christmas gifts, a survey held by advisory bureau Ernst & Young shows. On average, the thousand consumers questioned plan to spend 102 euros on Sinterklaas presents, compared with 74 euros for Christmas gifts. The total sum [...]

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A city museum for Maastricht

Maastricht is to get its own city museum, reports the weekly paper De Ster. The Spaans Gouvernement Museum is to be transformed into a new museum showcasing the history of the city of Maastricht from the 16th century onwards. By annexing the building located behind the Spaans Gouvernement Museum, the new museum will quadruple its [...]

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Dutch Justice Ministry blocks employees from using Wikipedia

The Dutch Justice Ministry said it would temporarily block its 30,000 employees from using Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, after a magazine reported that more than 800 entries had been edited from ministry computers. Though most of the changes the magazine, Intermediar, said it found were non-objectionable, some involved changing the positions of political parties or [...]

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Jewish group says anti-Semitic incidents in Holland up by 64%

Anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands have leapt by 64 percent last year, according a report by a veteran Jewish non-profit organization. In its report, released on Thursday, the Hague-based Center for Information and Documentation on Israel lists 261 cases of non-physical anti-Semitic attacks – compared to 159 in 2005. The report, which covers all of [...]

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Maastricht Carnival Song 2008: “Dao kump Maria”

The name of this year’s carnival song is “Dao kump Maria” (“There comes Maria”).

“Maria is simply a woman from Maastricht. The song describes how she celebrates carnival: all by herself, but having fun with all the people around her,” explains carnival enthusiast Marleen Vara, who has kindly translated the song into English for Crossroads readers. [continued...]

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1 December: International Charity Ball in Maastricht

Are you looking for an opportunity to combine your charitable goodwill with a unique evening programme? Would you like to get more in touch with the vibrant international community of Maastricht University? Then the First Charity Ball of Maastricht University might be what you have been looking for. On the 1st of December, the Maastricht [...]

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Dutch campaigners in last bid to save Anne Frank tree

Campaigners fighting to save a diseased tree in Amsterdam that was fondly described by Anne Frank in her diary about life in hiding under Nazi occupation made a last bid Thursday to stop it being felled. The Dutch Tree Foundation and residents of the neighbourhood where the huge horse chestnut stands lodged a final appeal [...]

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Stevaert urges for unified Limburg province

Limburg’s provincial governor Steve Stevaert wants the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg to be able to profile themselves as a single province in the European context. Instead of making a distinction between “Belgian” and “Dutch” Limburg, the distinction should be between “West” and “East” Limburg, respectively. This would allow a unified Limburg to better [...]

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Rejected asylum seekers to be given identity cards

Rejected asylum-seekers without identity papers will receive these from the government if they make a fresh asylum application. This document will give their name, nationality and legal residence status, Justice State Secretary Nebahat Albayrak has announced. Asylum-seekers who are rejected can make a fresh application for a residence permit on different grounds, sometimes as much [...]

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Ethnic minorities complain of discrimination

Job seekers in the Netherlands with an ethnic background are discriminated against, according to the Social and Cultural Planning Office. Many Moroccans, Turks and Surinamese complain about obstacles to getting a job that have nothing to do with their work experience, training or language skills. A large proportion of the complaints are from women who [...]

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Two thirds say Dutch identity does exist

Two thirds of Dutch people at home and aboard believe the Dutch identity does exist according to a survey by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and an opinion poll Peil.nl. A recent speech by Princess Maxima that the Dutch identity does not exist, led to discussions up and down the country. More than half of those asked [...]

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Integration Minister attacks right-wing views

Integration and Housing Minister Ella Vogelaar, introducing her draft Integration Law in parliament, attacked conservative MPs Rita Verdonk, Geert Wilders and Henk Kamp, for their divisive statements. Their forceful language is driving a wedge between muslims and other Dutchmen, she says. Read full article: Radio Netherlands, 14 November 2007

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Anne Frank’s tree to be axed next week

Anne Frank’s chestnut tree is to be cut down next week – it had been granted a reprieve until January but it has been decided that it has to go a lot sooner. It has now become so diseased that it is likely to topple over damaging the surrounding houses. The tree was lovingly described [...]

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Netherlands gets access to Al Mansouri

Abdullah Al Mansouri is still alive and has been visited by an envoy of Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen. The Dutch national, who is in prison in Iran accused of terrorist activities, appears to be doing well in the circumstances, according to the minister. It is “positive that the Netherlands has gained access to Al Mansouri [...]

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Province to province: Limburg

Expatica Netherlands has launched a new series on the Dutch provinces. And the first article focuses on Limburg! Limburg is the most southerly province of the Netherlands, hugging the borders of Germany and Belgium. A scenic area, it changes from farmland and woods in the north, to flat, river and lake-dominated terrain in the centre, [...]

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Times: Netherlands are continental Europe’s primary power in higher education

Vice-chancellors all over the world open this week’s issue of the Times Higher Education Supplement with trepidation, for it contains its yearly ranking of the world’s top 200 universities. In Holland there is reason for satisfaction. “A total of 28 nations have at least one institution in the 200. Virtually every university in Australia is [...]

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Growing immigration from new EU member states

According to the latest figures published by Statistics Netherlands, immigration has risen further in the third quarter. This is mainly attributable to an increase in immigrants from the new EU member states. At the same time, immigration from Turkey and Morocco declined. In the first nine months of this year, 87 thousand immigrants settled in [...]

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Review: The Naked European Citizen: State Surveillance in the EU, a lecture by Dr Douwe Korff

In a recent lecture entitled The Naked European Citizen: State Surveillance in the EU and hosted by Maastricht University’s Studium Generale, Dr. Douwe Korff, a Dutch Professor of International Law at the London Metropolitan University, provided both an educational and worrying perspective on the measures taken by governments in the pursuit of national security which may infringe on the privacy rights that form the core of the democratic ideal.

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Condoms

From Radio Netherlands Press Review: De Telegraaf reports that the Limburg town of Onderbanken has installed condom machines in the council building, making it the first council to do so in the entire country. Nineteen-year-old town councillor Rens Evers is behind the initiative. According to Mr Evers, “the region has one of the highest sexually [...]

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US officials impressed by Dutch healthcare system

American policy makers are interested in the Dutch healthcare system. The combination of competition, universal healthcare coverage and relatively high quality impressed a delegation from the United States, visiting the Netherlands last week. Read full article: Radio Netherlands, 12 November 2007

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Majority of French favour union with Wallonia

A majority of French citizens would support a union with the French-speaking Belgian region of Wallonia if Belgium were to cease to exist, according to a new survey. The survey was conducted by the French weekly Journal du Dimanche on Thursday (8 November), with participants being asked whether they are in favour of an “incorporation” [...]

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Many Dutch support merger with Flanders

Almost half the Dutch population is positive towards a merger between the Netherlands and Flanders. The newspaper DAG reported this on Monday after an opinion poll by Maurice de Hond. The poll showed that 45 percent of the Dutch would support a union with Flanders. The majority however, 49 percent, would be opposed to such [...]

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Netherlands second only to UK, Ireland for crime in Europe

The Netherlands is the most criminal country in Europe after the UK and Ireland, figures from the justice ministry suggest. The costs of crime have risen sharply in recent years. Crime cost Dutch society over 31 billion euros in 2006. Two years before that, the figure was around 20 billion euros. The total amount per [...]

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