More discrimination reports, most about Wilders; Anti-Semitism also "alarmingly" high

Last year, there were again more reports of discrimination. The vast majority of the reports were due to an X post by Geert Wilders, according to a study by two anti-discrimination organizations, which they will present to Minister Pieter Heerma of Home Affairs today. The number of anti-Semitism reports is also “alarmingly high,” the National Coordinator against Anti-Semitism said.

The discrimination figures come from regional anti-discrimination organizations, Meld.Online Discriminatie, and the police.

Regional anti-discrimination organizations received over 25,000 reports last year. Of them, over 14,000 were about Wilders’ post in August. In it, he shared an image with two half faces, with “PVV” written under the young blonde woman and “PvdA” under an older woman wearing a headscarf. In 2024, the regional organizations had received nearly 15,000 reports of discrimination in total.

Meld.Online Discriminatie received approximately 2,800 reports last year, two-thirds of which concerned Wilders’ post.

The police registered nearly 11,000 incidents of discrimination, about 1,100 more than a year earlier. The police also recorded 876 anti-Semitic incidents, including the defacement of a Jewish cemetery.

The number of discrimination reports received by the National Ombudsman remained more or less stable at approximately 300. The Children’s Ombudsman received 49 reports, over double the number in 2024.

The police reports often concern discrimination based on origin. For example, a police report describes a boy living with his mother in a shelter for Ukrainian refugees who was pushed and kicked off his bicycle on the way to school.

Another reporter wrote that she was turned away because she is “not a ‘native Dutch speaker.’” Even though she was born and raised in the Netherlands, and Dutch is her home language.

Another woman reported being told to remove her headscarf before she could go into a gas station.

The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights saw the number of requests for an opinion on possible discrimination rise by several hundred to 853. Reports to this institute were relatively often about discrimination based on a disability or chronic illness.

Minister Heerma called the increase worrying. “Behind these figures are many thousands of people who have been treated unfairly.” He views the numbers as the “tip of the iceberg,” because people who experience discrimination often do not report it.

Eddo Verdoner, the National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism (NCAB), called the 867 cases of antisemitism “worryingly high.” In 2024, the police received 880 reports of anti-Semitism.

“We have been reporting hundreds of anti-Semitic incidents per year for years. What I fear is that we are slowly getting used to figures that are unacceptable, that hatred is becoming the new normal,” Verdoner said.

Over 400 reports directly affected individuals and Jewish buildings, the NCAB said. "Jewish life in the Netherlands can currently only continue thanks to the Koninklijke Marechaussee, the police, and interventions such as cameras and bulletproof glass. The figures once again paint a worrying picture; this calls for decisive action. In schools, online, and in the courtroom."