Asylum minister Mark Harbers has resigned during a debate with MPs about a report in which figures about the number of refugees suspected of violent crimes were 'hidden'. Harbers told MPs that he felt responsible for the report, in which figures about how many refugees were suspected of rape and murder were not explicitly stated. ‘I am not only responsible in terms of the law, but I feel responsible,’ Harbers said. The figures, which were published last week, included suspicions of rape (4) and murder (31) under the heading ‘other’. Harbers was then accused of attempting to hide the figures. During Tuesday evening's debate Harbers said that the ministry had been warned not to come up with a top 10 crimes for which asylum seekers were suspects because that meant serious crime would be hidden. However, civil servants had not taken that advice, Harbers said. Asked why the ministry again had failed to report the true extent of the potential involvement of asylum seekers in crime, Harbers said civil servants were worried that the figures would lead to confusion. Fake refugees Last week's report showed ‘fake’ asylum seekers who come from so-called safe countries, namely Morocco and Algeria, were responsible for almost half the 4,600 incidents requiring police intervention. While most cases involved shoplifting or pickpocketing, police also registered cases of physical abuse, threatening behaviour and a further 1,000 incidents listed as ‘other’. The Telegraaf reported on Thursday morning this total included 79 potential sex crimes, including 47 cases of sexual assault, five allegations of child abuse and four alleged rapes plus a string of other violent offences. More >
School exams fail, 20,000 get wrong marks
An estimated 20,000 children leaving primary school this year have been given the wrong grade in their Year 8 exams and around 8% of them are set to go to the wrong type of school, the education ministry said on Tuesday. The grade is used to help determine what sort of secondary school is suitable for children once they reach the age of 12 – vocational (vmbo), havo (pre college) or vwo (pre university). In most cases the children were give a too-high grade, the ministry said, adding that the situation is ‘extremely trying’. Teachers are responsible for telling pupils what sort of secondary school they will go to earlier in the year and the exams, which are taken in April, are used as an extra indication. ‘Changes to the school recommendations are unavoidable,’ education minister Arie Slob said. Most children have already chosen or been allocated a secondary school. In total, 175,000 11 and 12-year-olds took the exams in April and mistakes were found in the final scores of some 20,000. In 8% of cases – some 1,600 - the mistakes mean the child concerned is set to go to the wrong sort of school, the ministry said. The ministry said mistakes were not made in the Cito exams, which are by far the most popular tests, but were identified in the IEP Eindtoets, ROUTE 8, DIA-eindtoets and AMN-toets tests. More >
Dutch arrest Jabhat al-Nusra suspect
A suspected commander of a terrorist Jabhat al-Nusra battalion has been arrested in the Netherlands, police said on Tuesday afternoon. The man, who is 47 and has Syrian nationality, was arrested in the small town of Kapelle in Zeeland on suspicion of committing war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria. He has been in the Netherlands since 2014 and has a temporary asylum permit. The man, police said in a website statement, fought under the name Abu Khuder and his battalion was known as Ghuraba’a Mohassan (Strangers of Mohassan). The home of a man in Ede was also searched as he is thought to be in contact with the main suspect, police said. At the same time, six homes of other suspected members of Ghuraba’a Mohassan were searched in Germany in a separate investigation. The Dutch arrest followed information from the German police, who provided witness testimonies about the suspect. The man will appear in court on Friday for a remand hearing. More >
Most terror attackers work alone: AIVD
There have been 112 jihadi-inspired terrorist attacks in the western world over the past 15 years, of which three quarters actually led to damage, injury or death, the Dutch security service AIVD said on Tuesday in a new report. But the success rate and the number of attacks has soared since 2014, when ISIS arrived on the scene, the AIVD said in its report The sharp drop in the number of attacks last year - from 29 in 2017 to seven - follows the 'collapse of the ISIS 'caliphate' and the group's reduced power,' the AIVD said. Although the geographical spread is broad, just over a quarter of the attacks took place in France, followed by the US (20%), Britain (13%) and Germany (10%). Some 80% of the attacks were carried out by people operating alone and in 20% there were no victims, the report said. The analysis of attacks and failed attacks also shows a wide variety of targets, ranging from public transport and open paces to cafes and bars. Just a handful of attacks took place at major open air events and resulted in a large number of casualties such as the Nice firework show in France in 2016. And although the image of terrorist attacks is one of bombs and suicide bombers, in almost half the cases over the past five years, the victims were stabbed, the attack timeline shows. Guns were involved in a quarter of cases and vehicles 17%. More >
Pieter Heerma to lead CDA in parliament
MP Pieter Heerma is to take over as leader of the Christian Democrats in parliament, following Sybrand Buma's departure to be mayor of Leeuwarden. The CDA is part of the current four-party coalition and has 19 MPs. Heerma has been an MP since 2012 and is the CDA's current spokesman on social affairs and integration. He was also Buma's right-hand man during the 2017 coalition negotiations. The appointment means the CDA can wait until closer to the 20121 general elections to elect a new campaign leader. Current finance minister Wopke Hoekstra and health minister Hugo de Jonge have both been tipped for that role. More >
Software sends more crooks back to jail
A new computer system has enabled the police to pick up 585 people who have so far avoided spending time in jail, the AD said on Tuesday. In the Dutch legal system, suspects are not required to turn up in court and so cannot be locked up immediately they are found guilty. Others are given a later date to report to prison. This means thousands of people who should have served time have avoided going to prison. Their details are included in various different registers, making it hard to police to check up on. The new computer system combines these registers into one, so that police can easily check if someone has outstanding jail time. Over 10,000 people are currently on the list. Most of those picked up by the police had short sentences ahead of them and a special police unit focuses on people who have longer sentences for serious crimes. Last year that team made 126 arrests. More >
Locals threaten action over Tata pollution
The inhabitants of the seaside village of Wijk aan Zee are threatening to take the Noord Holland provincial authorities to court for turning a blind eye to what they say are unlawful emissions by nearby Tata Steel and Harsco, the Volkskrant reports. Action group IJmondig has engaged law firm Prakken d’Oliveira in a bid to force the authorities to act. In a letter to the province, the law firm writes that ‘residents have been continually exposed to unlicenced emissions, grey and orange dust clouds, a rain of graphite and other deposits’. Among the health problems cited are respiratory complaints, headaches, nausea and concentration problems. A spokesman for Tata Steel said the legal move is surprising as IJmondig and the company are in talks to limit the impact of its industrial activities. The Volkskrant said the spokesman is referring to a graphite soot chamber due for completion in 2020 which Tata Steel claims will solve the problem. Effective However, IJmondig lawyer Bondine Kloostra said the province granted permission to build the chamber without a proper investigation into whether or not it would be effective against the pollution. ‘It’s being used as an excuse so the company can claim it is taking action,’ Bondine told the paper. Harsco, an American company which is producing the graphite by processing Tata Steel slag, was last year revealed to have worked without the required environmental permit between 2014 and 2016. Tata Steel itself is accused by the law firm of breaching ‘emission limits’. Noord Holland, which said it would investigate the claims, has four weeks in which to respond to the letter. More >
Dutch government issues first green bond
The Dutch finance ministry is on Tuesday issuing its first green state bond, the first green bond issued by a European country with a triple A credit rating. The government wants to use the money raised via the bond to finance sustainable projects in the years ahead. The target volume is €4bn to €6bn, but this will be increased to around €10bn in due time, the finance ministry said. Dutch bank ABN Amro, which claims to be a leader in this market, has arranged the subscription among investors and is coordinating allocation of the bond, which will mature in 2040. Finance minister Wopke Hoekstra first announced plans to issue the green bond last October, saying it would ‘represent a solid asset for any green portfolio’. The money raised via the bond will be used for green investments, including wind farms, large bike parks, strengthening dykes and improving home insulation. 'If Dutch pension funds, insurers and banks want to invest in green bonds, at the moment they have to go to foreign providers,' Hoekstra said at Monday's presentation. 'This green bond will help the further development of the green capital market in the Netherlands.' More >
Vultures lurk by Dutch border with Belgium
A griffon vulture and a black vulture were spotted in Heest near Maastricht on Monday, perhaps marking the start of more frequent sightings as the summer weather approaches, the AD reported. The two animals were seen resting in a field after making the trip from France or Spain. Sightings of vultures, including the bearded vulture or quebrantehuesos (bonebreaker), are becoming increasingly common as populations in their native habitats are thriving. However, unlike other species which are making their homes in the Netherlands such as the wolf and, possibly, the raccoon, the vultures are only expected to stay for as long as thermal conditions allow the animals to fly further afield. Experts say the climate in the Netherlands is too cool and as vultures live off carcases they will not find any food here. A single black vulture, which was part of a French reintroduction programme, did stay in the Oostvaarderplassen nature reserve for a number of months in 2005 but died when it collided with a train. It is now on show at the Naturalis museum in Leiden. A lost lammergeier was spotted by birdwatchers soaring over southern parts of the Netherlands in 2017. Dozens of birdwatchers witnessed the bird, which has a wingspan of 2.80m, in the skies over the provinces of Zuid-Holland and Noord-Brabant. In 2007, a large group of around 100 griffon vultures were spotted in Brabant province and spent several days in the Netherlands. They had flown north from Spain in search of food. More >
Baudet not aware of 'gewusst' WWII link
Forum voor Democratie leader Thierry Baudet has told a television programme he does not associate the German phrase 'ich habe es nicht gewusst' with World War II. 'Ich habe es nicht gewusst, or 'I did not know’ is widely used as a catch phrase to describe the response of Germans when questioned about the Holocaust after the war was over. It was used in a short propaganda video about immigration made by a far-right women's group and retweeted by Baudet, with Dutch subtitles, at the weekend. 'I don't have that association', Baudet, who has a degree in history, twice told television show Goedemorgen Nederland when asked about the use of the phrase. The phrase ‘Ich habe es gewusst’ (I did know) is also stamped over photos of Mark Rutte, Jesse Klaver and Rob Jetten which have been added to the end of the film. Baudet ignored questions about who had made the additions. In the interview Baudet also said that comments made by him in an essay about a new book by French writer Michel Houellebecq had been taken out of context. Baudet has come under fire for discussing the role of women in society, and appearing to blame the drive for equality with a lower birth rate and 'the demographic decline of Europe' in the critique. He also suggests that both abortion and euthanasia are part of a cult of the individual. 'In the Netherlands (where I live), suicide is facilitated to ensure that here, too, no constraints—such as the duty to care for your parents—are placed on the individual,' Baudet said. More >
Fastned IPO set for June 14
Dutch company Fastned, which is building a European network of fast charging stations for fully electric vehicles, will list on the Amsterdam stock exchange on June 14. The company says the listing will bring more 'flexibility in financing and better access to the capital markets. Since its launch in 2012, Fastned has built a network of 97 fast charging stations in its domestic market, the UK and Germany, of which most are in the Netherlands. The company also plans to open in Belgium, France and Switzerland, where it recently won a tender for 20 locations. 'With over five years of experience in building and operating a network of fast charging stations, we are well positioned to benefit from the accelerating transition to full electric vehicles,' said chief executive Michiel Langezaal. It is not yet clear how many shares the company intends to sell or how much capital it is planning to raise. The company is currently listed on the alternative trading platform Nxchange. Fastned, which has a workforce of 50, booked turnover of €1.6m in 2018 and made a loss of €6.3m. More >
