International

Promoting human dignity, equality and solidarity is our most fundamental principle. These values are poorly represented when you look at how refugees and other migrants are faring throughout the world. People traffickers earn huge amounts in organising life-threatening crossings to Europe, with thousands drowned as a result. People who lack the funds to pay a trafficker or who are not in a state of sufficient health to cross the sea in a small boat can't even take this risk. SP Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk advocates a truly just migration policy.

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On 4th October the European Court of Auditors published its official annual report on EU expenditure. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong's reaction to this is relatively positive, but he continues to have criticisms, as he explains. “It's certainly good news that the proportion of spending errors has fallen from 3.1% to 2,4%, though just as was the case last year you probably need to add some 2% which the Court of Auditors has left out of the reckoning. Nevertheless, the trend is good. You might well ask yourself how well the paperwork reflects the reality of all the practical examples of fraud and corruption, and of the waste which regularly emerges via the media. And finally, as the report shows, we would be better off putting an end to the so-called Juncker investment fund, which, as it turns out, clearly doesn't work.”

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During Tuesday's Parliamentary debate on Dutch aid to armed groups in Syria, SP Member of Parliament Sadet Karabulut presented a motion of no confidence in Foreign Minister Stef Blok.

Explaining her reasons for this, Karabulut said, “We had to learn from the media that for years the Netherlands had been supplying pick-up trucks, uniforms and other materiel to war criminals, to Jihadists and allies of Al Qa’ida. Time after time we've asked about this and each time the government has denied it.  In view of the minister's half-truths and lies regarding this support, we saw no other option but to propose a motion of no confidence.”  

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The advisory report from SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong on the protection of whistleblowers was carried today in the Budgetary Control Commission by 16 votes to 1, with 4 abstentions. Explaining the necessity for his report, De Jong said: “The proposal from the European Commission only deals with whistleblowers in the member states. However, there's also a growing number of people within the EU institutions willing to stick their necks out and report abuses. In my report I've made a series of proposals aimed at improving protection for such people.” 

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Three-and-a-half years of war in Yemen have led to the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. The Netherlands must step up pressure in the UN, says Sadet Karabulut.

The biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. That's the result of three-and-a-half years of war and a deadly blockade of Yemen. The bulk of the responsibility lies with Saudi Arabia, which has attacked one civilian target after another. Schools, markets, mosques – absolutely nothing is spared.

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International law's a great idea, but should never form an obstacle to the interests of the state. That's what, in a nutshell. Ko Colin of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (aka the Clingendael Institute) wrote recently. In other words, conducting foreign policy would become extremely difficult if the international legal principle of non-intervention were to be taken literally. 

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This summer, many people organised their holidays using booking sites such as Trivago, Booking.com or Expedia. Behind the world of sun-kissed destinations and even sunnier price reductions, however, lies a harsh system dominated by a handful of concerns. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong has picked up the cudgels for a fairer system for small businesses and their travelling customers.

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The Netherlands should not ratify CETA, the trade treaty with Canada, says SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur, a view supported by a study into the treaty's economic consequences by the French Veblen Institute. CETA will lead to the import of products which do not satisfy European regulations, and puts the right to set these regulations under pressure. Without unanimous support from the member states, the treaty will fall.  

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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) today ruled against the right of journalists to access receipts showing what Members of the European Parliament actually spent their office expenses allowances on. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong, responding to the judgment, said that he found it “totally unjust”, adding that “the argument on the basis of which the Court rejected the request for openness, the right to protection of private data, takes no account of the public function of elected representatives of the people. We are using taxpayers' money and should have to show that it's spent correctly.”

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