‘We Are Here’ making headlines again
‘We Are Here’ are a squatting group, made up of asylum seekers in the Netherlands. We’ve covered them in the past, and they’ve also made the news on several occasions over the course of the year and they’ve made the headlines again this week. It’s sparked up a lot of discussion as to how to tackle the issues associated with both asylum status’ within the Netherlands and squatting in general.
So, what’s happened this time?
There’s been a never-ending cycle so far with ‘We Are Here’ group, where they have been squatting, been made to move, squatting and being made to move. They’ve been made to move on again, and yesterday, a resident decided to take the situation into his own hands – or better said, just protect his home.
Whilst the group attempted to squat in a block of flats in Weesperzijde in Amsterdam, a resident began shouting at the group and preventing them from entering the building. He says that ‘people live here and it is a break in!’ It ended up being quite a heated argument, as you can see.
Source: YouTube, De Telegraaf
Turns out that resident was the son of the VVD chairman of Amsterdam, guess it’s on the political agenda now.
Gewoon even als vader, je wordt gebeld door je zoon, je ziet deze beelden, beelden van je zoon, en je bent van slag, angstige momenten, gelukkig is het met hem en zijn huisgenoten allemaal goed https://t.co/kemuzv7czc
— Eric van der Burg (@ericvanderburg) 4 juni 2018
Tensions have been running high with the group and any sympathy that may have occurred early on, is long gone for many people. Whilst this situation is not being tackled effectively, it’s eroding support for other refugees, which is pretty detrimental. Residents have had enough and this might cause tension with other refugees or asylum seekers who are not affiliated with the group. What next? Well, unless something is done, it’s going to be a never-ending cycle. Tensions are running really high now.
Latest update: the group have squatted an old office building in Amstelveen, the municipality is already trying to get them out.
What’s your opinion on all of this? Let us know in the comments! And don’t forget to join our DutchReview Facebook group for more Dutch stuff. C’mon… you know you want to! 😉
