Nieuws van de afdeling

28 October 2007

SP demands debate on terms of engagement in Uruzgan

The SP is demanding a parliamentary debate over the terms of engagement observed by Dutch soldiers in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The demand was provoked by the news that Australian military personnel stationed in the province refused to fight alongside Dutch colleagues because they considered the chance of civilian deaths to be too great. According to a UN report, Dutch armed forces were responsible for dozens of civilian victims.

26 October 2007

SP opposes receipt of Guantanamo prisoners

The Netherlands must not agree to the request by the US to receive prisoners currently held at Guantanamo Bay. This is the firm opinion expressed by SP Member of Parliament and international affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel as he passed through Washington, DC on his way back from a visit to the American prison camp in Cuba.

25 October 2007

Message to NATO ministers: no prolongation of mission in Uruzgan

Support Afghanistan, stop the war! That was the message from around a hundred people who gathered this afternoon amongst the lighthouses of Noordwijk, the Dutch coastal town where the government often hosts international conferences. Just a few hundred metres away stood the Hotel Huis ter Duin, where twenty-seven ministers of defence met to discuss NATO's plans for prolonging its mission in Afghanistan. The demonstrators were there to put the case that Afghanistan must be helped, certainly, but by other than military means.

24 October 2007

Blue Card: the EU's neo-colonial grab for the raw materials of the information economy

The European Union is seeking to entice an increased number of highly-qualified immigrants to Europe by means of a so-called 'blue card', a work permit along the lines of the US 'green card', designed to accelerate the import of information workers. “This is extremely ill-advised," says SP Member of Parliament and employment specialist Paul Ulenbelt. “Of course from the point of view of an individual from say Ghana or Ecuador the chance to build a better life here in Europe is fantastic. But the downside is that developing countries will be robbed of their intellectual capital. This is nothing less than a neocolonial grab for the raw materials of the information economy.”

19 October 2007

Dutch troops in Afghanistan: SP demands government response to accusations on radio programme

SP international affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel is demanding an explanation regarding revelations concerning the role of Dutch forces in the war in Afghanistan, matters in connection with which the government would, it appears, rather remain silent. These include the large number of civilian deaths in the battle at Chora in Uruzgan which took place last June, as well as the engagement of Dutch commandos in the hunt for terrorists during the winter of 2001-2002 in the east of the country, an area where the Netherlands is supposedly not involved.

19 October 2007

EU Treaty Agreement means it's time to choose: will the European project proceed with the people, or without them?

“Now that there is a definitive text for the new EU Treaty, the question becomes one of whether we try to further the European project with the people, or whether we proceed without them," says SP European affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel. “A clear majority of Europeans want referendums to be held," he added. "If this doesn't happen, the EU will distance itself still further from the people it claims to serve. It will remain a project of politicians and bureaucrats and Euroscepticism will become ever more widespread."

International