Press release: “In-depth investigation” into nightlife discrimination - 28 February 2017

An investigation by the municipality into discrimination at the door in nightlife found that of the 30 catering establishments surveyed, five refused to accept so-called “mystery guests” from migrant backgrounds with “an appearance of arbitrariness or discrimination”.  

In this regard, the fact that only 30 cases were tested in this two-year study is cause for concern. Mayor Van der Laan even warns that the study is “too small to draw conclusions”. This raises the question of why the municipality put so little time and effort into the study and why it took so long.

Although the vast majority of the surveyed catering establishments either simply allowed the mystery guests or refused for obvious reasons, the five discriminatory cases are still worrying. Perhaps one cannot draw any conclusions from this survey but let this be a reason for a more thorough and comprehensive investigation.

Exactly what these “mystery guests” and their clients have been up to over the past two years remains a mystery.

Iris Mayer, president GroenLinks Youth Amsterdam