DWARS and JD: 'D66 and GroenLinks, block curfew!'

D66 and GroenLinks must now stand firm and stop the imposition of a curfew. This is what youth organisations Young Democrats and DWARS say in a statement this afternoon. They say the effects of a curfew do not outweigh the harmful effects a curfew would have on young people.

Léonie Janssen and Sabine Scharwachter, chairpersons of the Young Democrats and DWARS, GroenLinkse Youth respectively, call on their parties to block the imposition of a curfew. Hague sources now indicate that the cabinet is at an advanced stage of preparations for a curfew.

Janssen points to the harmful effects of a curfew on young people: "Not only are intensive care units full, but also the GGDs' crisis rooms. The mental resilience of young people is declining sharply, and we really need to take that into account at this stage of the crisis. Young people need perspective more than ever, a curfew takes away just that."

Scharwachter mentions that an evening walk or communal dinner can help young people tremendously mentally, but that a curfew actually makes this kind of social contact impossible. "That contact simply takes place in the evening. Especially with the mental health of young people deteriorating so rapidly, it is not proportionate to take away the last vestige of social contact from young people."

In addition, the youth organisations believe that a curfew is not the right tool to combat the corona crisis. "Young people are now being scapegoated," claims Janssen, "while the infections among people in their fifties much higher than infections among young people. So you hit the wrong group with the curfew. Enforcing home working or closing Schiphol would be much more effective."