International

Nobody should be imprisoned unless they are awaiting deportation to their country of origin, any detention must be made more humane, and nobody should be put out on the street, certainly not children. This was what Dennis de Jong, Member of the European Parliament for the SP, told the 'wake' – literally, the 'watch' – at the deportation centre at Zestienhoven airport, Rotterdam. The wake is a monthly protest organised by solidarity group 'Welkom Onthaal' (Welcome Home) in which the SP also participates. Current expulsion policy is, argues the SP, in conflict with European law, and De Jong intends to take the European Commission to task on the matter. "This policy is inhuman, ineffective and also in conflict with the rules," he explains. "I won't let the subject rest until we wee a just solution."

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel expressed his shock over the attack on the aid convoy to Gaza carried out by international waters by the Israeli navy. “It is unthinkable that this has happened,” said Van Bommel, the party's foreign affairs spokesman. “What began as a just action of support for a people, the people of Gaza, being starved out, has become a tragedy. I urge our foreign minister to put pressure on Israel to allow the aid goods to pass. In addition an independent enquiry is needed, preferably to be carried out by the UN.”