100% Dutch Shame

Yesterday the Christian Democrats (CDA), the majority party in the Netherlands, have voted Angolan asylum seeker Mauro Manuel off their precious little island.

This means the 18-year old, who came to Holland as a ten-year old kid, will not be granted a residence permit and faces deportation back “home”.

The fact this young man barely speaks Portuguese, that he’s managed to integrate himself fully into a flipping difficult society, the fact he speaks Dutch fluently (probably better than the average politician), and considers his foster family his parents does not seem to matter. The authorities do not seem too concerned with the fact that sending Mauro back to Angola means he will lose everything he has: a  loving family, a home, stability, an education and a genuine chance in life.

Mauro is black, he is Angolan, and Angola is no longer at war – so off he must go.

Angola might no longer be at war, the country is not one for sissies (by this I do not mean Mauro is a sissy, btw!). Just Google ‘Travel Advice Angola‘ or ‘Safety Angola‘ and you’ll see what I mean. No need to explain further. You do the math and ask yourself: would an average 18-year old European be able to survive there on his own? So why would Mauro be able to do so? Again, he has left that country almost ten years ago!

Oh, and please note that the Dutch government, the same one that considers Angola safe for asylum seekers to return to, discourages its own nationals from traveling  to this part of the world for safety reasons.

In other words: It is okay for black Angolans to get stabbed/robbed/mugged, but not for pale Kaaskoppe. Eish.

The worst thing is that the CDA’s decision to kill Mauro’s permit application could very well have been fueled by the right-wing Party van de Vrijheid (PVV). Rumour has it this party made threats to collapse the cabinet in case of a pro Mauro decision. I am not suggesting this was indeed the case, but I would be surprised.

The CDA however said it showed its ‘humane’ face by probably allowing Mauro to stay in The Netherlands to await the outcome for his study permit application. According to the rules, one has to apply for such visa in one’s country of birth. Bunch of hypocrites. If you can make an exception regarding a study permit, why not making an exception regarding the residency permit?

Anyway – I have as from this morning emotionally distanced myself from my citizenship and I will continue to do so until the political landscape changes. I do not want to be associated with a regime that allows itself to be ruled by a bunch of racists led by – how my Grand Mother calls him – Führer Geert Wilders (she survived the second world war, so she is allowed to say this) and one that choses to stab humanity in the back.

Rules are rules, sure, but sometimes there are exceptions. Mauro should have been one of them. Over 70% of the Dutch population shares this view, by the way.

Next time someone asks me where I am from, I will tell them I am from Sweden or something.

 

Dutch Government, Why Don’t You Grow a F*cking Heart!

I am flabbergasted. Baffled. Most of all I am fire-spitting ANGRY and very much ASHAMED. Ashamed of the government in The Netherlands, yes the one that allegedly represents me. These cold-hearted, merciless, soulless pricks-in-suits-and-ties in The Hague have decided that Mauro Manuel, an 18-year-old Angolan boy who has lived in The Netherlands for eight years, has to back “home”.

But what is home to this young man? After all, he left Angola when he was just ten years old. Angola, back then was a completely different country from now. When Mauro was put on a plane by his mother (he still does not know why she did that) eight years ago, the Civil war had just come to an end. Angola was in ruins after 26 years of warfare and far from pleasant for a young child.

Mauro is now fully integrated in Dutch society, he lives with a Dutch host family whom he regard as more or less his parents, he speaks the language fluently (probably better than I do – just watch the video), and has pretty much no ties with Angola anymore.

This boy is Dutch as Dutch can be yet. But he has to go back to Angola.

This decision comes from a government that heads one of the wealthiest countries in the world, a nation the world thinks of as tolerant. A developed nation. A civilized one. Allegedly.

I am so angry.

To speak in Desmond Tutu’s words: “Dear Prime Minister Rutte, you and your government don’t represent me!”

And in my own words: “Mr Rutte, Mr Gerd Leers, and everyone else responsible for this human catastrophe: you are nothing but a bunch of heartless criminals. By sending Mauro back to Angola you rob him of a future, a life, a family, a proper chance in life, and of everything else that he has ever had and would have had. I hope you can live with yourself, and that you will be able to sleep at night.”

Oh, you may consider growing a f*cking* heart while looking up the word “Humanity” in the dictionary. It seems you forgot what that is all about.

Tossers.

*I usually do not swear in my blog, but f*ck it: there is an exception to every rule.

PS: Please sign this “Mauro has got to stay petition“. Over 50.000 people have signed so far! It does not matter where you are from! We are all human being inhabiting the same planet!