International

Last Thursday upwards of forty activists in Rotterdam’s detention centre made it clear that their hopeless situation as foreign detainees awaiting asylum is utterly untenable. The asylum seekers who used a sit-in to draw attention to their plight have no prospect of deportation, find themselves locked up more and more often and for longer periods and are subject to a real prison regime. ‘We are being treated like criminals,’ says one of the activists, Joeri Zaloilo. SP Member of Parliament Sharon Gesthuizen is urging rapid improvements to the situation and has asked the government for its views.

‘Either the smoke from the fifty billion euro blunder has still not lifted or Prime Minister Rutte is creating a new smokescreen around the collateral on the Greek loans. Rutte voted at the European Council Summit in favour of allowing negotiations on collateral on the loans to Greece. But our government in fact finds it an unwise idea and rejects its practical elaboration by Finland and Austria. There’s no following this any more!’ So says SP Member of Parliament Ewout Irrgang in reaction to the note to Parliament from the government concerning the commotion created by the collateral demanded by Finland in exchange for new loans to Greece. The SP is demanding a debate this week with Rutte and Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager in order to clear up precisely what the PM voted for at last month’s summit.