8 May 2012 A report to the Dutch parliament from the advisory group on social development (RMO) has recommended the cessation of categorizing residents according to ethnicity and parental birth places, advising instead that only the birth place of the individual concerned be taken into record. The report advocates the elimination of terms such…
10 May 2012 Ayaan Hirsi Ali, writer and former member of the Dutch parliament, has been awarded the German Axel Singer Award, on behalf of the Axel Springer School of Journalism. She has received the award in recognition of “her uncompromising struggle for the rights of Muslim women, even at the risk of her…
2 May 2012 The Netherlands may drop the planned ban on the burqa and on dual nationality which are currently making their way through the national parliament. The change comes with the fall of the minority government, as those aspects of government policy influenced by the presence of the anti-Islam PVV (Freedom Party) enter…
26 March 2012 Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten told Dutch parliament in a briefing that the risk of a terrorist attack in the country remains low. The limited threat which the country does face, Opstelten commented, stems from the potential perceived discrimination against Muslims in the country and the Dutch army’s role in military missions…
The Dutch cabinet has passed a ban on burqas in the Netherlands which would take effect from next year, making the Netherlands the second European Union country to ban the burqa after France. The ban is to apply in public spaces, to face covering clothing including the niqab, but also balaclavas and motorcycle helmets worn…
