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FEATUREThursday 15 October 2015

Anger Grows as New Migrants Sent to Tiny Dutch Village

tice Minister Klaas Dijkhoff anti-Islam lawmaker Geert

broke the news to villagers Wilders has seen his Free-

on Tuesday that hundreds dom Party rise in recent

more could be on their polls as he campaigns

way, he said, “everybody against new migrant cen-

flipped.” ters. He argues that the

One woman stood in front Netherlands should simply

of Dijkhoff’s car as he tried close its borders.

to leave the meeting. When But the asylum seekers

she was pulled, screaming, keep coming. Some 3,000

to the side of the road, she arrived last week alone;

fell and injured her arm. A the previous week saw

man kicked the car as it 2,400 and the week before

drove away. that 4,200.

“I’ve had better evenings,” That has left authorities

Dijkhoff told reporters at scrambling for places to

the Dutch Parliament the put them all. Vacation

following day. “But I un- parks and sports halls are

derstand that people were being pressed into service

shocked.” as emergency accommo-

Two days after the con- dation centers and local

frontation, the only trace of municipalities are being

Migrants leave the Oranje vacation park in the village of Oranje, Netherlands, Thursday, Oct. 8, anger left in the cluster of asked to look for other suit-
2015, whose local population of 130 is overwhelmingly outnumbered by hundreds of migrants. houses lining the banks of able locations.
(AP Photo/Peter Dejong) the local canal was the vil- So far, according to locals,
MIKE CORDER and townsfolk in some parts of suitable housing else- lage sign: The name Oran- problems caused by the

Associated Press of Germany also have pro- where. je had been covered in massive influx in Oranje are

ORANJE, Netherlands (AP) tested against the arrival Oranje was chosen be- black spray paint and “Syr- confined to asylum seek-
— In this tiny Dutch village, of asylum seeker centers, cause of its 1,400-bed va- ia” scrawled underneath. ers riding bicycles on the
Jan Voortman’s garden though many others in the cation village, but villagers It was not clear when the wrong side of the road or
center has added some country also do plenty to saw the decision as a be- sign was defaced.
walking in the middle of
new products to its lineup help migrants. trayal by the central gov- Many Dutch people are streets at night, posing a

of plants, seeds and wood- In the end, 103 new mi- ernment based more than welcoming migrants with risk to themselves and local
en clogs: falafel, couscous grants were bused into 200 kilometers (125 miles) open arms, but plenty of motorists. But Mayor Ton
and water pipes.
Baas acknowledged that
The enterprising store
their arrival has radically
owner is capitalizing on
changed the sleepy rural
the newest residents of ru-
village.
ral Oranje, until recently
“The people, refugees,
population 130: Hundreds
come from another cul-
of asylum seekers from as
ture. They walk on the
far away as Syria, Sudan
street more, they are out-
and Eritrea who are being
side. They have nothing to
housed in a disused vaca-
do. There’s nothing to do,”
tion camp. But the reso-
he said. “So they are on
lutely cheerful Voortman
the street and that gives
sees his fellow townspeo-
(the village) a totally differ-
ple adopting a starkly dif-
ent appearance.”
ferent attitude.
One of this week’s arriv-
Villagers who a year ago
als was Mohamad Ziad,
grudgingly accepted the
a 28-year-old from Homs
arrival of 700 migrants re-
in Syria, who crossed Eu-
acted furiously last week
rope in a people-smug-
when the government an-
gler’s truck after making
nounced it was sending up
the risky boat journey from
to 700 more, turning Oranje
Turkey to the Greek island
into the latest flashpoint
of Rhodes.
in an increasingly polar-
As he shopped in Voort-
ized debate about how Jan Voortman passes a sign reading House of Hope in English and Arabic as he finishes cleaning man’s store, Ziad had kind
this densely populated na- up the bar area in his garden center in the village of Oranje, Netherlands, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015.
tion of 17 million can ac- (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) words for the village of
Oranje. “I really like it. You
commodate thousands of
know, we are having our
migrants pouring into the Oranje, bringing the total away in The Hague, which others are opposing moves own room — especially
country. to 803. The agency respon- after sending 700 people to set up centers for asylum your own bathroom — not

Similar frictions are emerg- sible for housing asylum last year had pledged not seekers in their towns and sharing with each other,”
ing elsewhere in Europe as seekers called the deci- to send any more.
villages. he said. “It’s quiet and
the continent struggles to sion to send more people “It was going well. Every- Prime Minister Mark Rutte people like each other be-
absorb hundreds of thou- to Oranje “difficult but un- body was satisfied,” Voort- has faced criticism for his cause, you know, we are
sands of people. Villagers avoidable” given the lack man said. When junior Jus- handling of the crisis, while all in the same situation.”q