Posted by My experience with #integration and #language#barriers is not theory – I have lived it firsthand.
In 1977, while working as a nurse, I saw how #Moroccan patients were in no way integrated. Communication in Dutch was nearly impossible.
In 1978, my friend told me he and his classmate Jeroentje were the only ones speaking Dutch in their elementary school in #Amsterdam-East.
In 1988, as a teacher, I stood in front of a VMBO class of #Arabic-speaking #Muslim girls who refused to speak Dutch with me.
In 1997, I worked in a Taskforce in Utrecht (Kanaaleiland and Overvecht), aimed at integrating Moroccan youth. Yet again, Arabic remained the dominant language.
In 2003, as a principal of a VMBO-bb school in Amsterdam-West, the student population was almost entirely Moroccan and Antillean boys. As a woman, I had zero authority. The spoken language: again, Arabic.
In 2006, I visited Morocco: schools, the Ministry of Education, and women’s shelters. The advice I received: harsh punishments, “immediate crackdown” policies, and not to bother with anything else.
In 2016, I founded a school for asylum seekers. But it could not be organized by Dutch standards: it had to be adapted into an Arabic-style COA policy.
All of this shows that the problem of language, integration, and culture has been ongoing for decades — in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is no longer the country it once was. It is becoming, step by step, a land of burqas — just like Persia, Iran, fifty years ago. And like you, I refuse to accept this fate. This is not what my ancestors, myself, or my children have worked and lived for. We owe it to them to stand firm, to resist, and to protect the essence of our nation. Yours sincerely , Marianne from Holland
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Who Watches the Watchers? 