International

At almost every important Surinamese activity in the Netherlands, he is present. In clear and straightforward language he gives his opinion about Surinam and about Surinamers in the Netherlands. In Parliament, he has fought for years for improvements to the social and economic position of the Dutch Surinamese. On sensitive subjects, such as the making public of dossiers from the troubled 1980s, he speaks out in powerful tones against the Dutch government. He is now widely known as ‘de Suriname-vriend’ – the friend of the Surinamese people.

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong was today named one of the vice-chairs of the special committee on organised crime and corruption. ‘The work is starting not a day too soon,’ says De Jong. ‘Corruption costs an annual €120 billion, affects the poor more than anyone else, and is making the economic crisis worse. Fraud in financial institutions such as that which came to light less week at LIBOR, where there was also the alleged complicity of central banks, shows that financial criminality in the broad sense is becoming rampant. Because this sort of criminality is almost always transfrontier in nature, an approach based on European cooperation is clearly required. We will, via the special committee, be making proposals to ensure that criminals of this ilk, including fraudulent bankers, end up behind bars. They caused the crisis, but instead of having to atone for this, they continue to enjoy enormous salaries and bonuses.’