Immigration has long been a hot button issue in the Netherlands.
Dutch government policies have recently led to a surge in popularity for political parties that want to stem the tide of new immigrants, especially from Muslim countries.
A wave of anti-Semitic violence has led to more concerns.
And now another issue has raised fresh questions about the dark side of the nation’s immigration policies.
Christian news outlet Worthy News reports there’s been a recent spike in complaints about sexual assaults on teenage girls and young women — allegedly by youths from immigrant families.
SHOCKING ASSAULT ON TEEN IN RURAL COMMUNITY
A courageous father told lawmakers in the southern municipality of Maashorst that his 15-year-old daughter was assaulted by a Syrian asylum seeker in January.
He accused the mayor and the council of “negligence, cover-up politics and undermining the teen’s victimhood.”
He told how his family had suffered since the attack.
“My daughter is scarred for life. We live with the consequences of this serious crime every day,” he said, fighting back tears.
“This takes a heavy toll on all of us. We do not feel heard.”
HOW THE COUNCIL REACTED
The father claimed the municipality warned his daughter’s therapist against speaking out, for fear of creating tensions with asylum seekers.
“We have the impression that the rapist is viewed as a victim while the perpetrator role is being given to us as a family.”
The father said it was “scandalous” that the mayor and municipality suggested that the alleged perpetrator is a minor, when his exact age is unknown.
The nation’s Public Prosecution Service claimed the assault happened after school “between the girl and a minor boy who knew each other” in Veghel just outside the Maarshorst boundary.
The father said the suspect was “transferred” to another location without prosecution, even though his identity and DNA are known.
“We are trapped in the trauma he caused, while he is walking around freely.”
QUESTION BEING ASKED ACROSS THE NETHERLANDS
Worthy News reports immigration critics as saying Maashorst has encouraged the housing of mainly Muslim migrants in its region, with plans for at least three more shelters.
The father asked the council: “With the arrival of even more asylum seekers here, can you still ensure the safety of your wife, the elderly, and children?”
It’s a question being asked across the nation with reports of dozens of assaults on young women in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities.
It’s feared hundreds more have never been reported.
The Netherlands has taken in hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in recent years.
It is home to around 4.5 million people with a migration background, including about one million Muslims, according to official statistics.
WHAT’S CAUSING THE PROBLEMS IN MAASHORST
Maarshorst Councillor Janco Bethlehem believes “authorities want to maintain secrecy around these kinds of incidents.”
He is facing prosecution for alleged incitement after calling for a peaceful rally last month against the local leadership’s asylum policies — especially the planned new shelters.
Local authorities deployed 150 police, a helicopter, and a drone during the rally after violence broke out.
Video from the protest shows officers violently removing the father of the assaulted teenager.
HARASSMENT OF YOUNG WOMEN
The tensions in Maashorst have been widely shared on social media amid broader concerns across the nation — about a wave of incidents involving migrants harassing women and girls.
Men and boys on ‘fat bikes’ slap their targets on the body and then ride away.
The incidents are recorded by the perpetrators and shared online.
In Amsterdam alone, police have received 24 reports of sexual assault by suspected migrants since the beginning of the year, but have not made a single arrest.
Critics say police and other authorities often turn a blind eye to these complaints to avoid offending migrant communities.
WHAT’S BEING DONE TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM
The anti-Islam Party Voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) is leading a four-party coalition pledging to halt the influx of migrants from predominantly Muslim nations.
In 2023, it became the largest party in the Dutch Parliament, which is an indication of the overall national sentiment on immigration.
But left wing politicians and activists are making it difficult to enforce these policies.
That has been evident during the recent huge surge in anti-Semitism across the Netherlands, which authorities appeared incapable of stopping.
A third of the nation of 18 million people identifies as Christian with around 5% following Islam.
But with 55% of Dutch people identifying as “non-religious,” the traditional Christian roots of the Netherlands are being eroded away.
