Over 900-meter-long dinner table set up in Amsterdam to support asylum seekers
Around 1,500 people sat down at a dinner table of over 900 meters long in Amsterdam to dine together in support of asylum seekers on Wednesday evening. Asylum seekers, entrepreneurs, social organizations, and people who simply signed up shared a meal together to show that everyone is equal and welcome, the organizers told AT5.
The event raised money to support the residents of asylum shelters in the Netherlands. It was also intended to send a positive signal, both the organisers and attendees told NOS. “We wanted to highlight that the image we see in the media does not match the positivity we feel every day when we work with them,” said co-initiator Roby Hormis, who works for a foundation that assists people in asylum shelters.
Hormis came to the Netherlands as a refugee from Iraq with his parents and two brothers when he was 4. “I get the impression that the threshold for settling in here as a refugee is higher these days,” he said. “And at the same time, they are punished more severely.”
The evening was pleasant and relaxed, filled with good food donated by local businesses, among others. €250 got you two seats at the table. Several large companies bought seats for themselves and for asylum seekers and the organizations that support them. Many individuals also bought tickets. The event raised over €200,000, which will go to a foundation dedicated to language education at asylum shelters.
“Magical to sit among so many different people,” Amsterdam local Mieke Veldhuis told NOS. She attended the dinner with her teenage son. She acknowledged that part of the relaxed atmosphere was because there were no anti-asylum protesters present. “That’s a shame in itself, that opponents aren’t coming here to engage in a dialogue.” At the same time, she considers it important that the evening offers “a positive counter-voice” to the recent violent protests at shelters.
At another part of the table, a group of 90 people from Loosdrecht and Hilversum enjoyed a mushroom dish prepared by a local Chinese restaurant. The group consisted of locals and 32 people from emergency shelters. They were there by invitation. One of the Loosdrecht residents is Harun Basli, who owns a home in the village. Eight years ago, he lived in multiple asylum shelters after fleeing to the Netherlands from Turkey as a political refugee.
“I imagine opponents will say: there they sit, eating in their leftist bubble,” Amsterdam DJ Bart de Roos told NOS. “But I think it is a beautiful initiative to eat together like this, while there is so much polarization in the world.”
He attended the dinner with his mother. “It is so wonderful to sit at such a long table,” his mother, Denise van Gasselt, said. “I try to avoid discussions. Sometimes the tone is so harsh. I am happy to pay the €250 I paid for myself and my son for an initiative like this that tries to connect people.”
