Overt racism in text group of Dutch organizing border checks against asylum seekers
The Netherlands residents who have set up their own border checks at the German border over the past few weekends to stop asylum seekers from entering the country are overtly racist in the texts they send each other, the BNNVARA program BOOS reported after gaining access to the WhatsApp group. They also discuss weapons.
“A long time ago, they knew what to do with those blacks, then they listened to us, that time must come back,” one person wrote in the WhatsApp group called Grenscontroles i.v.m. Asielzoekers. The group has around 700 members. They placed a heart emoji after that statement.
“It’s better to have a weapon in the house. Kicking such a fucking black person to death, that is unforutnately punished more severely in this world,” reads another message.
And: “I am really against weapons, but if it has to be done, then it has to be done. It is not normal that we have to protect our house, family.”
According to Boos, the WhatsApp group was greeted by Jan Huzen. That man previously told NRC that his goal with the border checks is to pursue and interrogate asylum seekers, and to film this to show people. “Unfortunately, we did not encounter any asylum seekers. No dark-skinned people, or anything like that,” he told the newspaper. According to RTV Drenthe, Huzen was previously convicted of incitement and slander.
Mayor Jaap Velema of Westerwolde, the Groningen municipality in which these border checks are happening, called the racism in the WhatsApp group “disgusting, “shocking,” and “completely unacceptable,” speaking to RTL Nieuws.
The police told RTL that they’re aware of the WhatsApp group and monitoring the situation. “Where there are criminal offenses, such as incitement or discrimination, we take action in cooperation with the Public Prosecution Service where possible.”
Caretaker Justice Minister David van Weel previously said he understood the citizens’ “frustration,” but asked them to stop the checks. He and Prime MInister Dick Schoof urged the Dutch to abide by the law. PVV leader Geert Wilders praised the action.
