Netherlands: Police don’t intend to enforce burqa ban Via RNW : Once the burqa ban passed by the Dutch conservative coalition on Friday is approved by parliament, police will be obliged to enforce it, Security and Justice Minister Yvo Opstelten stresses. “The minister expects police to enforce the ban in accordance with the law”, Mr Opstelten’s spokesperson emphasised. The statement comes in response to criticism voiced by the National Police Union and the central works council of the national police force that is currently being set up

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Netherlands: Majority Dutch think Queen should wear headscarf to mosque Via De Telegraaf (Dutch): Queen Beatrix wore a headscarf while visiting a mosque in Oman this week, as a sign of respect for local custom. The Party for Freedom (PVV) criticized her, saying she was supporting the oppression of women under Islam. According to a Maurice de Hond poll, 79% of the Dutch think she acted properly.

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Netherlands: Khat is banned Via Expatica : The Dutch government Tuesday banned the use of khat, a leaf native to East Africa chewed for its stimulant properties mainly by the Netherlands’ sizeable Somali community. “The drug khat is banned,” the Dutch Immigration, Health and Justice departments said in a joint statement. Khat is grown in the Horn of Africa and has for centuries been chewed by users in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.

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Netherlands: Dutch language gaining ground in mosques Via RNW : Dutch mosques are beginning to phase out Arabic-only sermons. Research at Utrecht University has shown that Surinamese Muslims are leading in this respect.

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Netherlands: Moroccans complain to UN about Wilders Via RNW : Three members of the Dutch-Moroccan community have made an official complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee against anti-Islam Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. They accuse him of inciting hatred against Muslims.

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Netherlands: National Headscarf Survey Via beauty blog (Dutch): 60% of Dutch Muslim women aged 15-35 (around 80,000 women) wear a headscarf.

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Bosnia: Dutchbat chief knew Muslims faced death, claims former surgeon Via RNW : Dutchbat commander Thom Karremans was actually aware that thousands of Muslim men would be killed after the fall of the Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia in 1995. This is the claim made by former Dutchbat surgeon Ger Kremer in an interview scheduled for broadcast on Dutch public television this Wednesday.

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Netherlands: Kurds ask for protection from Turks Via Telegraaf (Dutch): About 40 Kurdish organizations asked the Turkish community Thursday to respect them. They also ask the authorities to proetc the Kurdish population and to take judicial steps against “any form of aggression by Turkish rioters”. “We respect the Dutch state and its legal system, and ask the Turkish community and the Turkish organizations in the Netherlands to respect the fundamental rights of association, assembly and freedom of expression of every citizen, as well as the Kurds in the Netherlands.” Ever since the Kurdish separatist movement PKK cilled 24 Turkish soldiers last week, tensions increased also between Kurds and Turks in the Netherlands

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Netherlands: Turks to claim back integration course costs Via DutchNews : Thousands of Turkish nationals are set to claim back the cost of integration courses from the Dutch state, now that the compulsory classes have been ruled illegal, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday. Lawyer Bilal Coskun told the paper some 30,000 Turks have been forced to take the courses, many of them in Turkey itself. He has now set up a foundation to represent them in claiming back an average €5,000 per person.

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Netherlands: Many Dutch asylum seekers jobless Via RNW : Figures from the Dutch CBS statistics office show that 22 percent of asylum seekers are officially registered as unemployed and looking for work. This is far higher than the percentage of people in a similar position from the native Dutch community (three percent) and the non-Western immigrant community (nine percent). ( source )

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