An article from our local paper. The headline reads "Local resident claims that we're being treated as fools".
It goes on to describe how the local asylum seekers centre is to stay open for another 15 years, accommodating up to 1000 people.
People who live "nearby" (none within 1/2 km from what I can tell) apparently went along to a council meeting and made a lot of noise about this.
They claim that shop keepers see higher rates of theft, that there's a feeling of intimidation on the streets.
"The feeling of lack of safety is not being taken seriously. People adapt to the unsafe conditions and pull back. The inner city has been a safety risk zone for years. Violent incidents are normalized" etc.
This seemed a bit strange to me because Assen is actually a *very* safe place to live by comparison with anywhere else that I've ever lived.
Later there are some figures. Last year ~200 incidents involving asylum seekers were reported to the police. In the same period, ~60000 incidents were reported involving other Assen residents (who number ~68000). This means that asylum seekers, who everyone watches very closely, actually feature in these reports about 1/4 as often as native Dutch people.
The problem experienced by those complaining has a name: Racism.
#racism #racisme #azc #assen