Nieuws van de afdeling

27 September 2011

100 storks against maternal mortality

Flanked by a hundred storks, SP Member of Parliament Ewout Irrgang promised to call the Dutch government to account for its cuts in spending on the global struggle against maternal mortality. The storks were assembled on Het Plein, the square in front of the Netherlands’ Parliament, by development aid NGO Simavi as a protest against maternal mortality throughout the world. 'This government pays lip service to the notion that the struggle against world-wide maternal mortality is a top priority,’ says Irrgang. ‘But they’re actually cutting tens of millions of euros from the budget for this important matter. When we come to debate the budget I’ll be calling Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ben Knapen to account for this contradiction and asking him to reverse these cuts.'

25 September 2011

Recognition of Palestinian state urgently needed

The Dutch government rejects the recognition of the Palestinian state by the United Nations. In doing this, they are sending the wrong signal.

24 September 2011

Palestine must no longer be excluded

The United Nations must decide on admission of Palestine as the 194th member.

24 September 2011

SP development spokesman named ‘political comrade’ of Burundi journalist

Ewout Irrgang, Member of Parliament and development spokesman for the SP, today became a ‘political comrade’ of Burundi journalist Eric Manirakiza. The initiative is a response to growing repression of critical journalists and members of the opposition on the part of the Burundi government.

24 September 2011

Government plans to penalise illegal entry are impracticable

Immigration and Asylum Minister Gerd Leers’ plans to lock up undocumented immigrants is in conflict with EU rules. This is clear from answers delivered today by the European Commission to questions put by Dutch MEPs from the SP, Green Left, Christian Union, Labour and the centrist D66. According to the rules laid out in what is known as the Returns Directive, as well as a recent ruling from the European Court of Justice, member states may not introduce any legislation limiting the freedom of undocumented migrants simply because they are in the country illegally. This demonstrates that the government’s plans to make unauthorised presence a punishable offence are impracticable.

22 September 2011

Frontex must halt degrading treatment of asylum seekers

The SP political groups in the Dutch national Parliament and the European Parliament have put questions in response to a damning report from Human Rights Watch on degrading conditions surrounding the reception of asylum seekers in Greece. Greece’s reception of asylum seekers is backed up by the European Union’s border guard service corps Frontex. ‘The report is damning about Frontex’s actions and talks about human rights abuses,’ says SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong. ‘This must lead to immediate changes.’

International