Tag: Refugees

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Opinion: the Netherlands fatally irresponsible

While all of Venezuela's neighbors are doing everything they can to control the flow of refugees and increase pressure on Maduro's dictatorial regime, refugees must be deported from the Dutch Kingdom at any cost, with all the consequences that entails. Even making deals with internationally wanted criminals is not avoided. In the past few months, I was researching this humanitarian crisis and the dubious role of the Netherlands in all of this in both Venezuela and Curaçao. Given the acute importance, here is a brief account. 

Fleeing for survival

Millions of Venezuelans are fleeing their dictatorship in search of a better life. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing simply because there is no food or need medical attention. Others are fleeing, fearing arrest or worse. Thousands cross the borders of Brazil and Colombia every day, some taking the risk of reaching the islands of the Dutch Kingdom in rickety boats. Those who are lucky can live there in the shadow of the tourists in illegality with the daily fear of being arrested, those who are less lucky are arrested even before arrival, imprisoned in inhumane conditions, only to be sent back to the dictatorship they fled with all the risks that entails.

 

A humanitarian crisis

Venezuela's neighbors, the EU, the United Nations, Amnesty, UNHCR, everyone but the dictatorship itself recognizes that a humanitarian crisis is underway, one of the biggest known to our generation. The regime of "President" Nicolás Maduro blames an economic war allegedly being waged against the country. He calls the refugee figures implausible. Meanwhile, millions of Venezuelans have fled because survival has simply become impossible; the flow of refugees is only expected to increase. What little food there is left is unaffordable, most of the hospitals have closed and medicines are virtually unobtainable. Cancer, AIDS and dialysis patients are doomed.  

The vast majority flee to their largest neighbors, Brazil and Colombia, where they are recognized as refugees; relaxed visa requirements and special status give them a measure of protection. Many travel on, sometimes even on foot, to Ecuador and Peru. Pressure on the border areas is intense, and international aid has only recently begun to arrive.

Flights to Curaçao

Others choose to reach the Kingdom's islands from northern Venezuela on increasingly rickety boats. Whereas last year I could go along for 12 euros, today demand has increased so much that the price has risen to $300. One or more boats depart daily at night. Between fifteen and thirty refugees are sailed to just off the coastline of Curaçao where they have to reach the island while swimming. Recently I spoke in Puerto Cumarebo with some Venezuelans who were about to leave and asked them what they expected. They talked about their last chance. The seventy-kilometer crossing can be a dangerous one; several times bodies have washed up on Curaçao.

Directly deported

Sometimes the boats are intercepted by the Coast Guard even before the coast. These people are immediately arrested and detained in prison, from where they are deported (sometimes after only a few days) back to the humanitarian crisis they fled. Prison conditions are degrading. Several witness statements and a recent Amnesty report confirm the picture of belittling, mistreatment and the inability to claim rights. Children are separated from parents and denied medical care. Both Amnesty and UNHCR have called on the Kingdom to stop this degrading treatment.

Illegally undocumented

Most of the refugees do manage to reach the islands without being intercepted. However, the kingdom does not recognize these people as refugees but refers to them as illegal undocumented migrants. These people, estimated at between 10 and 15 thousand, live illegally on the island. Many of them live underground, afraid of being arrested and deported, with no chance of claiming medical care or any rights. Many women end up in prostitution, estimated at around two thousand. The police regularly conduct searches around the island, sometimes arresting dozens of refugees at a time.

Curaçao says it has no capacity and financial resources to receive the Venezuelans. Several times 'The Hague' has been asked for help, but there the leaders point to the islands' own responsibility. The Netherlands has promised help with knowledge of the immigration and naturalization service and has pledged one hundred thousand euros for renovations to the prison. Last week, another pledge of almost 150,000 euros was made to realize a closed shelter for women.

Block's dark deal

in April this year Minister Blok appeared out of nowhere on Venezuelan television, where he had just managed to secretly make a deal during an unannounced visit that resulted in the lifting of the long-standing border blockade between Venezuela and the Dutch islands. Among others, he was accompanied by the American wanted drug lord Tareck El Aissami. We later learn that Stef Blok had been working behind the scenes to prepare this deal and used the state visit to Colombia to finalize it.

Full prisons

Later, Blok's intention in a interview with René Zwart become clear: , "I was able to observe the effects of the blockade for myself during my visit. The islands really suffered a lot. They depend on imports from Venezuela for foodstuffs, especially fruits and vegetables. There is also the problem of people from Venezuela coming to the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom in search of a better life. The islands have no room for that. It threatened to become such large numbers that it would become disruptive. So it is of utmost importance that migrants who come to the islands for economic reasons can be returned. For me, therefore, the core was to get the blockade lifted, and knowing how crucial it is for the islands, that is what I worked for."

Aruba's controversial consul

The reason for the blockade was initially said to be smuggling. However, at play behind the scenes was that the Netherlands was blocking the appointment of Aruba's new consul, Carlos Mata Figueroa. The Netherlands threatened to block the appointment not only because this ex-military man has no diplomatic experience whatsoever, but also because he is known to have ties to the Kartel de los Soles and is also suspected of being responsible for ordering murder. He came into disrepute after, when he was governor, he ordered Tupamaros to attack associates of his opposing candidate. During Blok and Aissami's press conference, it became clear that the Netherlands would no longer block the appointment, and the day after the deal, Carlos Mata Figueroa was appointed consul of Aruba.

Maikel Moreno

Several countries including the Netherlands (through the EU) have placed most of the regime's leaders on the sanctions list. Including Maikel Moreno, who appears with a total of 42 countries on the sanctions list. Maikel Moreno is the president of the new higher court established by Maduro and, in addition to being jointly responsible for violating human rights, is also suspected of murdering a teenager, for which in 1989 he was arrested became. Weeks after signing the deal with Minister Blok, the Dutch-sanctioned Moreno appears at the international criminal court in The Hague. Answers to parliamentary questions reveal that the Netherlands had to make special efforts to get sanctions out of the way to make this visit possible.

Summary executions

Several organizations note human rights violations. Hundreds of people died during protests, thousands were arrested. Recently, Amnesty released a report finding that over eight thousand Venezuelans have been summary executed in recent years.

Immediately after the deal was signed, the Kingdom continued to deport Venezuelan refugees. The fruit boats, which Blok said were a major reason for the deal, have been waiting for months and have (temporarily) lost their permanent place on Curaçao's wharf.

My thoughts

During my latest, three-month research, I went in search of Venezuelans recently deported by the Kingdom. A few had decided to flee to another neighboring country, others were about to make another attempt to reach the islands, but the trace of several after deportation is obscure. The families I spoke to are distraught and fear they may never see their child again. In a broadcast at" Real John!" of last week, I too express my anguish about the fate of the missing deported refugees. It also becomes clear during my research that an asylum procedure does exist on Curaçao, but is inaccessible. In a hidden camera action, it becomes clear how people are sent from pillar to post and are eventually never offered the possibility of an asylum procedure.

Knowingly complicit

The recommendations in Amnesty's report - including a temporary halt to the deportation of refugees - were ignored by Curaçao last week. Curaçao and also the Netherlands continue to label the refugees as illegal undocumented migrants who come to the island for an economic reason. I see it differently: they are not economic refugees, but there are economic reasons not to see them as refugees. And with that thought, knowing what is going on in Venezuela, knowing about opinions and reports from various organizations, knowing that political opposition and criticism against Maduro's regime can lead to imprisonment or summary execution, knowing that people are dying on a large scale due to shortages of food and medicine. Knowing all this, yet simply sending people back without any procedure of this kind makes you complicit in their fate.

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How one of the richest countries in the world can be poor - Part 1

Yesterday in Venezuela, following an investigation into "illegal exchange rates," 86 people were arrested, 112 arrest warrants issued, 596 raids conducted and 1133 bank accounts frozen. Maduro calls it the outcome of one of the largest criminal investigations in history. But really, it is nothing more than a distraction from the real problem.

No exchange offices

Unlike many other countries, there are no official exchange offices for foreign currency in Venezuela. Exchange can only be done at the government, but they no longer have money. Exchanging foreign currency such as Dollars is therefore prohibited. However, the black market trade is gróót, and the price has skyrocketed. In 2014, it was 80 bolivars per dollar. Today more than 550,000 bolivars.

The food trade

In contrast, the government kept the rate of the Dollar artificially low for decades. 1 Dollar was 10 bolivars, but only obtainable by companies that were friends of the government. Since 85% of products are imported into Venezuela -and there was almost no production in its own country- the government managed to keep power over the food trade this way. In recent years, the government did move somewhat away from the one rate policy. Now they operate several. All still far from the black market rate.

Don't unhook yet. If you want to understand how one of the richest countries in the world can be poor, let's go through this. Foreign reserves, 9.8 billion left. To paint a picture. The budget of the Netherlands (2018) is 277 billion. Back to Venezuela. 95% of Venezuela's income comes from oil exports. The country's oil production has halved in recent years (refinery failures, etc). The price of oil has seen better times, but is still higher than when Chavez came to power.

The debts

come from the country comes from oil. Production has been cut in half. Now a word about the debts. To keep paying for everything, the regime has borrowed a lot of money (from China). Their weapons they buy with loans (from Russia). Those loans they pay back with oil. In total, more than 2/3 of oil exports go to paying back loans.

So oil production goes down, what does come out of the refineries goes into debt and the import-dependent country runs out of foreign currency. Airlines can no longer be paid and stop flying into the country. Food can no longer be imported; a scarcity occurs. Medicines can no longer be imported; people die.

The food shortages
Food shortages combined with government-regulated prices on some products stopped the last bit of food production in the country. Queues grew in front of state supermarkets. A black market for food emerged with rapidly rising prices.
People still need to eat, medicines are desperately needed. The government says there is no humanitarian crisis in the country, so international aid is not allowed either. People have to get their food and medicine from neighboring countries. No one accepts their currency, the Bolivar. The government has no Dollars, a black market in Dollars is developing.

Wage of 2 Dollars per month
Meanwhile, the minimum wage is falling rapidly. With today's average black market rate less than $2 a month. People are selling their possessions, getting into crime or whoring themselves out. Corruption was on the rise. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the country in recent months.

Back to where I started. The government is calling yesterday's arrests an outcome of one of the largest criminal investigations in Venezuela's history. And as Bart Schut also points out, the country has bigger problems. And this example is just the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, Brazil is considering closing its border, it is harder to flee to Colombia, Chile is making stricter visa requirements, and we are sending Venezuelan refugees back.

Distraction

Maduro will continue to do everything but distract from the real problems (including corruption). Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands will die from shortages of medicine, food and from rising crime.

We will not see much of this. Many journalists are stuck, have fled the country, and communication to the outside world will become increasingly difficult. People will give up hope for international help. That's about it for today. Had to get out. Thank you for your time. Don't forget this country, you are hereby warned.

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In Calais, the refugee never left

Looking out over the now empty, weed-covered site, it is hard to imagine that just over half a year ago nearly 10,000 people lived here. I went back to Calais to see what has changed since the evacuation of the Jungle, the illegal refugee camp next to the tunnel to England.


Standing on the hill, looking out over the former camp, I imagine what it was like at the end of October last year. The camp was burning in several places. Dark clouds of smoke filled the air. Several refugees packed up their last belongings, while the massed police swept the grounds.

While bulldozers are ready to raze their homes to the ground, the 8,500 refugees are driven like a herd of animals to a large chilly shed temporarily set up as a sorting center. They are then taken away in buses to be placed in various cities scattered across France. Saying goodbye to their dream "England.

Nothing of that camp is visible today -as if it did not exist. How will the former residents fare? We don't have to wait long for the answer. Less than three blocks away, in an open field between some industrial buildings, we find the first refugees. As if we had come to bring food, the first refugees come our way as soon as we get out of the car.

I did not travel to Calais alone today. One of the others who went with me is Bob Richters. It's his first time in this area. He didn't just go along to drop off a van full of donated goods. He wants to see for himself what is happening here.

Earlier in the day, we drove past a collection shed a few kilometers outside the former camp. Well-meaning volunteers collect donated food and goods here and then distribute them to the refugees. Tower-high items are stored. Skittishly, several volunteers watch our arrival; "keep the gate closed for security reasons. What are these cameras doing here. Don't film the location of the building, we have been attacked by extreme right-wing thugs in the past."

"I don't really know what to make of this," Bob tells me. "They offer no tools, nothing will be solved with this." I have to agree with him. Indeed, with all the good intentions, it offers no solution. I also saw the bad sides of this kind of charity last year.
Many volunteers take on tasks without being knowledgeable. Some take, consciously or unconsciously, an undesirable position of power and a deeper purpose other than sticking band-aids is lacking in many cases. Today there is food again, what there is tomorrow we will see.


One of the volunteers reports being greatly inconvenienced by the police. "We get one hour to hand out food at a location, then we have to stop" The organization Bob donated items to makes food for between 1,200 and 1,500 people daily.


Bob is his own little do-gooder. In Rotterdam, he helps the -in many people's eyes- underprivileged of our society with his project Hotspot Hutspot at three locations. Ex-addicts, homeless people and a girl indoctrinated by the IS are part of his clientele. "My project evolves as what is needed, for example, I now have two homeless people who are active with me, they need shelter, so I am now working on a hot spot hot spot hotel." "You know Michel, development aid at home is what I do."

The field less than three blocks from the former "jungle" is dotted with people. In the middle of the field something like cricket is being played, next to me a little boy of a few years old is stepping along the piled up garbage, some others are asleep. One of the boys who walked up to us, a boy from Eritrea, I remember. He was one of the boys I met in the jungle in October. He was there for five months then, this means he has been in this area for a year now. He looks tired, his eyes are red. In his poor English, he tries again, as he did in October, to explain to me that he has a sister in Canada who is willing to take care of everything for him. "I don't need to go to England anymore," he asks me if I can mediate, again I give my number, a phone call I don't expect from her, still not.


The refugees in this field report sleeping in the open. A few say they are harassed by police, "They come at night, take away our belongings and spray pepper spray in our eyes." Some report being regularly picked up only to be released a few hours later. There are no facilities on the field, including water.


Last year I met Zimako, a Nigerian refugee who fled his country in 2011 after the elections. His Togolese father who had worked for the previous government was threatened. Via Libya and Italy, he ended up in France. Unlike others here, Zimako does not want to go to England. He wants to stay in Calais.


Zimako has grown fat when I meet him today, he is here because he is meeting with Bob and with Veerle. They have brought a washing machine, a dryer and monitors for him.

Until the eviction, Zimako had a school in the refugee camp the jungle. His -handily built- school was razed to the ground along with the rest of the jungle. Even before the eviction began, Zimako had a new project, a laundromat for the refugees and residents of Calais. Now he also wants to start an Internet cafe.


I don't know what it is but unlike last year, I miss the confidence with him when he talks. The washer, dryer and monitors end up in a basement of an apartment complex and the story he spins in front of my camera seems too scripted, including his jokes. Is Zimako still the do-gooder and ray of hope in the gates of hell I wrote about last year? Was it just me, have I become too suspicious because of the refugee hatred in the Netherlands?

As I stand on the edge of the field, staring at what is taking place before me and watching my half pack of shag being distributed to a dozen or so refugees, Bob comes over to me. "And Michel? How do we solve this, do you know the solution?" I don't think I give him an answer to that question. And as we drive past -the police cars parked just around the corner- I hear Bob say to two of his boys who are along for the ride "Customization, talk to them one by one and come to a solution."

Personally, I think Calais is a great example of how we, in Europe and also in the Netherlands, deal with refugees. We don't solve the problem, we move it and pretend that everything is cake and egg. We continue to make the same mistakes we made in the past. We segregate, create a new class and get distracted by discussions of whether we as human beings have any responsibility at all for another human being. Only to find out ten or twenty years from now that these new Dutch people are going to turn against the established order.


And as we do so, not only are the thousands of refugees in Calais sleeping in the open, waiting for the day that may never come.