“JOVD, leave undocumented people alone”

Last week, the Telegraaf came out with the news that the municipality of Amsterdam has provided almost 7 million euros in facilities for undocumented migrants since the beginning of this year. On Saturday, the JOVD (Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy) Amsterdam e.o. responded with a article on their website. DWARS Amsterdam regrets the limited representation of reality that the JOVD outlines in its dehumanising argument.

The article's author, Cesar van Rooij, who for incomprehensible reasons refers to himself in the third person singular, claims that the money is spent on “yoga courses and future orientation training”, among other things. In doing so, however, he ‘forgets’ to mention that these cost items account for less than 3.5% of the total amount - those figures can be found in the same Telegraaf article on which Van Rooij relies. By far the largest part (more than 77%) is spent on shelter and residential care, which, according to a ruling by the European Committee of Social Rights in 2014, is a “unconditional obligation” is. The Amsterdam municipality is thus also obliged to provide all people, with or without papers, with the basic necessities of bed-bath-bread.

Van Rooij does contribute some suggestions on what should be done with the 7 million. For instance, the municipality should spend the money on deporting undocumented migrants from the country. However, it should be clear that municipal tax money is not spent at all can to deportations, should they be easy to carry out at all. After all, so-called ‘illegality’ is not a criminal offence. Moreover, any deportation procedures are the job of the national government and the IND.

Van Rooij also suggests that the council could better spend the money on solving the shortage of teachers and policemen. While we of course wholeheartedly agree that the milked-out public sector is a pressing problem, we would remind Van Rooij that such shortages are symptoms of a structural problem created by 20 years of neoliberal VVD policies in The Hague. The fact that taxpayers' money does not benefit citizens enough will surely not have anything to do with the millions spent annually on capitalist hobby projects. The JOVD would do well to tackle problems at the core from now on instead of resorting to low-grade dehumanisation of vulnerable groups.

In a final convulsion, Van Rooij tries to defend that the money should actually go to “people who will continue to be part of Amsterdam society”. However, the group of undocumented migrants currently residing in Amsterdam consists mainly of refugees who have yet to start their procedure in the Netherlands. Many ‘illegals’ will therefore, however unpalatable the JOVD may find this, eventually become a permanent part of this society.

By giving a limited account of the facts, the JOVD is guilty of xenophobic, populist rhetoric that we normally only hear from the far-right caverns of the spectrum. In a panicky response to an unsurprising news report, the JOVD does not seem to realise that the government here is simply trying to abide by its duties - still too little, if it is up to us. If the JOVD absolutely must cut back on something, we do have another suggestion: provide shelter for undocumented migrants and give them a work permit. That is the first step towards an independent and dignified existence.

Sabine Scharwachter (chairman DWARS Amsterdam)