Netherlands: We must be crazy to want for Turkey to enter EU – Dutch MP Via news.am (h/t DW) In an interview with Hurriyet daily of Turkey, Dutch MP Barry Madlener, who attended an international conference in Istanbul, yet again stressed that Turkey has no place in the European Union. He noted that Turkey is a Muslim country, and many Dutch do not feel safe because of the thousands of Muslims living in the Netherlands. He added that the immigrants have contributed to the escalation of crime in the country.

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Amsterdam: Students protest closure of meditation room Via RNW : Islamic students at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, HvA, have taken to praying in a stairwell as a protest against the closure of the school’s meditation room. They hope to force the school to provide them with their own prayer room. However, the school board is refusing to meet their demands

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Netherlands: Council of state criticises amnesty plan for child refugees Via DutchNews : Draft legislation to give an automatic right to stay in the Netherlands to refugee children who have lived here for at least eight years is unnecessary, unfocused and unfair, according to the Council of State. (…) In addition, the legislation could encourage families to drag out legal procedures until a child had been in the country for eight years, and it would be unfair on families who have left, Nos television quotes the council as saying. ( source )

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Netherlands: Council of state criticises amnesty plan for child refugees Via DutchNews : Draft legislation to give an automatic right to stay in the Netherlands to refugee children who have lived here for at least eight years is unnecessary, unfocused and unfair, according to the Council of State.

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EU: Plurality see Islam as threat to identity Via La Croix and IFOP (PDF): French polling agency IFOP published the results of a survey on Europeans and Islam.

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Netherlands: Muslims don’t accept ‘incurable’ diagnosis Via Zorgvisie (Dutch): Research by Fuusje de Graaff of NIVEL (Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research) finds that in palliative care, the professional values of care-providers clashes with the culture values of Turkish and Moroccan patients. De Graaff researched what shape the palliative care takes for patients of Turkish and Moroccan background.

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Netherlands: Cabinet keeps immigration figures artificially high, claims MP Via DutchNews : The cabinet is exaggerating the number of migrants coming to the Netherlands by including children born here in the figures, GroenLinks MP Tofik Dibi said on Monday. Dibi says ministers are inflating the figures to legitimise their relationship with the anti-Islam PVV, which wants sharp cuts in immigration levels in return for its support on the economy.

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Netherlands: “Turkey Now” festival to introduce Turkish art and culture The 4th “Turkey Now” festival will begin in the Netherlands on February 23. The festival aims to introduce Turkish art and culture to Dutch people

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Netherlands: Burka ban might popularize it, warns Muslim politician Via JPost : It’s easy to see why Fatima Elatik dislikes burkas.

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Netherlands: Immigration minister wants to get rid of ‘allochtoon’ Via DutchNews : The word allochtoon, literally meaning non-native, should no longer be applied to people born in the Netherlands, immigration minister Gerd Leers told a meeting on Monday night, according to the Telegraaf. ‘I want people born in the Netherlands to be called Dutch, plain and simple, not non-native,’ Leers told the readers of women’s magazine Libelle. ( source )

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