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Nieuws uit 2011

26 January 2011

Hearing on the Niger Delta: Shell admits mistakes

On the initiative of SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen, Dutch parliamentarians today questioned representatives of Shell regarding oil extraction in Nigeria. Dutch environmental group Milieudefensie (‘Environmental Defence’) and Amnesty International called the corporation to account for doing too little to maintain pipelines and to clean up pollution which had led in many places to fertile land being covered in a thick layer of oil. Shell also allows gas released during oil extraction to be wasted in widespread flaring rather than being put to good use. It has become clear that Shell acknowledges that the situation in the Niger Delta is more serious than it originally appeared.

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25 January 2011

Let’s invest in forces for good in Afghanistan

A training mission means the Netherlands supporting one side in Afghanistan, which won’t bring peace any closer.

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23 January 2011

Mutual recognition of partnerships and marriages no nearer

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong clashed with European Commissioner Viviane Reding during today’s debate on Lithuania’s proposed law against ‘the public promotion of homosexual relations’. If adopted, the Lithuanian law could lead to problems for the mutual recognition of partnerships and marriages of same-sex couples. ‘The Commissioner continues to confuse mutual recognition with family law,’ said De Jong. ‘Also, the SP is no supporter of the harmonisation of family law, but I want to be confident that if a same-sex couple has concluded a registered partnership or marriage in one member state, other member states will be obliged to recognise this status. So I’m also very disappointed that the Commissioner is still not willing to put some effort into this.´

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19 January 2011

New Afghan mission is American idea

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has to his astonishment learnt of the existence of an American telegram dated 24th February, which was passed to state broadcasting news service NOS by Wikileaks. The telegram reveals that on the day that the last government fell, Karel van Oostrom, a close adviser to then prime minister Jan-Pieter Balkenende, informed the PM that he would make ‘discreet contact ‘ with the US government and with NATO with the aim of making possible a renewed Dutch mission in Afghanistan. ‘The Afghanistan mission now being presented turns out to be an American idea. The mission appears to be a copy of the plan that the Americans cooked up together with the last government. Otherwise, you’d have to attribute the American Embassy diplomat with almost prophetic powers.’

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19 January 2011

Government adopts SP proposal, bans investment in cluster munitions

The Senate yesterday ratified the international treaty against cluster munitions. At the same time the Netherlands Parliament’s upper house called on Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal and Defence Minister Hans Hillen to take more action against banks and investors which invest in firms which manufacture and distribute these horrific weapons.

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19 January 2011

De Jong demands EU guarantees of humane asylum policy

Asylum procedures in several EU member states are unsatisfactory, according to the SP in the European Parliament. In some countries there are major problems with reception, and in others problems with the procedure for assessing asylum applications. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong is therefore asking the European Commission for guarantees that it will not give way to pressure from a number of member states which are unwilling to process reception and application for asylum together. In the De Jong’s view ‘the member states, instead of individual proposals, should deal with the whole package in one go.’

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