Allochtonen Weblog Roundup

Allochtonen Weblog collects news about the immigrant community in the Netherlands. Here’s a few interesting stories they’ve had this week.


25% of immigrant kids don't feel free

According to an internet survey 16% overall say they don't feel free. 89% of Muslim kids who answered the survey think freedom of religion is more important than freedom of expression. Only 22% of the general public agreed. A third of the kids thought you could say that Islam was a backwards religion.


Conference on Moroccans in Amsterdam

Four organizations of Moroccans in Amsterdam are organizing a conference about the Moroccan community following a report put out on the community. According to the report, which has not yet been formally publicized, most Moroccans in the city are in bad condition - with low education and few options on the job market. The situation of the 2nd generation will only get worse. Moroccan kids grow up poor, in small apartments in almost Moroccan-only neighborhoods.


Utrecht wants less Moroccan suspects

Utrecht is coming out with a new program to keep Moroccan kids out of the crime circle. The program is financed by the gov't for 700,000 euro. Today 35% of the crime suspects in Utrecht are Moroccans and they are responsible for 38% of the crimes and offenses in the city. The plan sets as a goal to drop that number by 5 percentage points by 2009.

The 8-point plan includes more Moroccan parent-coaches, more sports possibilities for Moroccan kids and a Moroccan youth coordinator as well as support for existing projects.


Forbidding the head covering

A survey of 5921 people shows that most do not want a Muslim women presenting the news while wearing a head covering. 60% prefer not to be served in shops, banks and city services by women wearing a head covering. 75% don't want to see such a woman in class. 82% don't want to see a minister with a head covering.

28% see the Muslim head covering as a religious symbol, but for about 25% it's a distinction between Islam and the western cultures. Half of those questioned didn't see a difference between a head covering and a burka. 92% agreed with Aboutaleb that women wearing a burka should not receive welfare benefits. 61% think this should hold also for such things as piercings and tattoos.


New clinic for ADHD in Utrecht

The clinic for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is meant specially for immigrants. Immigrants do not always recognize the signs for such disorders and even then, tend to turn to help less. 91% of the workers in the clinic are immigrants as well who can recognize the difference in culture.

Source: Allochtonen Weblog (Dutch)

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