Nieuws van de afdeling

26 April 2013

Sanctions against Burma still needed

Last Monday the EU decided to lift all sanctions against Burma, with the exception of an arms embargo. This was not an intelligent decision. The upsurge of religious violence within the country has not been adequately combated by the authorities. Pressure from abroad remains necessary to encourage Burma to continue to make progress, as there have indeed been positive reports regarding an independent press and the freeing of political prisoners; the EU is wrong, however, to abolish sanctions. Many major problems continue to dog the country.

25 April 2013

Council of Europe urges more aid to Syrian refugees

If the present day world is a village, why are we doing so little about the fire raging in its centre? That was the question posed by SP Senator Tiny Kox today in Strasbourg, where the Council of Europe debated the lack of international aid arriving at the camps receiving the enormous stream of refugees from Syria. Neighbouring countries are carrying the burden while the world looks on, and that can’t go on any longer, Kox said.

24 April 2013

De Jong votes against police access to European fingerprint databank for asylum-seekers

The European Parliament today voted in favour of a proposal to allow the use in the pursuit of criminals of a European databank containing asylum-seekers’ fingerprints, a move to which the SP is totally opposed, as Euro-MP Dennis de Jong explains: 'When EURODAC, as this databank is called, was established, I was involved in this myself. It was a sensitive matter, but it was necessary to the functioning of the European asylum system. To use this databank for an entirely different purpose is not only in conflict with its original purpose but also totally undesirable. In a state where laws are respected, people are innocent until proven guilty; that principle is now being turned on its head: asylum-seekers and recognised refugees are in fact presumed to be suspect. This decision is stigmatising.’

24 April 2013

Campaign for a single workplace for European Parliament gathers steam

The Single Seat campaign, which aims to bring to an end the monthly travelling circus that sees the European Parliament decamp en masse from Brussels to Strasbourg, is gathering steam. Yesterday the campaign’s steering group, which includes SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, sketched out its plans for the coming elections, as De Jong explains. ‘There is now a clear campaign strategy for the European elections in 2014,’ he says. ‘We are going to ask all candidates to sign a declaration of support for the campaign. As for any candidate who isn’t willing to do so, the public will know at least that he or she wants to stick to the current wasteful travelling circus. More than three-quarters of sitting MEPs want to put an end to it.’

23 April 2013

Euro-MPs’ paid-for trips to be made public

Details of all journeys undertaken by MEPs and paid for by third parties must be made public, the European Parliament has decided. Explaining the concerns which led to the decision, SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong said, ‘Normally a member is not allowed to accept any gift worth more than €150. For gifts which take the form of reimbursing travel expenses, however, this limit doesn’t apply. A package holiday which claims to be a “study tour”, you can simply accept. That’s not good, because many lobbyists don’t hesitate to use this as a means of exercising influence. At the same time I would say that the new rule remains an important step forwards: Euro-MPs must now at least report this kind of gift, so everyone will be able to see who is getting invited on such trips.’'

19 April 2013

Six parties vote for no confidence motion against Security and Justice Secretary

The SP group in the Dutch National Parliament this morning joined several other opposition parties – the Christian Democrats, centrist D66 and Christian Union, the Green Left and the Animals’ Party - this evening in voting to support a motion of no confidence in Secretary of State for Security and Justice Fred Teeven. The motion formed the culmination of a debate on the death of Russian asylum seeker Aleksandr Dolmatov who was unjustly placed in detention and failed to receive the necessary medical care or legal counsel. Eventually Dolmatov committed suicide in his cell. ‘The Secretary of State dismissed Dolmatov’s death as a unique incident,’ says SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen. ‘He said he was sorry, shifted the guilt away from himself and will go on in the same old way. I find that shocking.’

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