Last month, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (locally known as AIVD or Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst in Dutch), released its annual report. As expected for a non classified document, there is nothing ground breaking here, nothing that our local media doesn’t always remind us is “threatening” or “dangerous”. The list of “threats” include, as expected, Muslim terrorists, Jihad, recruitment for Al-Qaeda, etc. Basically, all the same talking points we’ve been hearing since 9/11.
However, there is one new issue that appears listed on Page 28, under the banner “Radicalism and Extremism”, lumped together with Islamic Extremism and Left-Wing extremism. From the report (emphasis mine; link to PDF of the report in English):
Intimidating and/or violent opposition to the asylum and immigration policy
In 2012, opposition to the Dutch and European policy on asylum and immigration increased. This was mainly due to the definitive start of the so-called No Border Network, in which activists and extremists such as the Anarchist Anti-Deportation Group in Utrecht and the Stop the Deportations Working Group have joined forces while retaining their own principles and action methods to promote co-operation and coordination. The annual ‘No Border Camp’ activities, where activists discuss matters such as international campaigns, took place in Sweden and Germany this year.
Actions taken in 2012 by opponents to the asylum and immigration policy included graffiti at the residence of the then Minister for Immigration, Integration and Asylum, Mr Leers, and the training centre of the IND in Utrecht. In addition, Dutch people were involved in blockading detention centres for asylum seekers in Belgium (Merksem and Brugge), during which several people were arrested.
In addition to the familiar action groups (the Working Group Stop the Deportations and the Anarchist Anti-Deportation Group in Utrecht), in 2012 other to some extent new groups were active, which for instance provided direct aid to homeless refugees. Some anti-fascist groups (AFA-Fryslan, AFA The Hague) also changed the focus to the opposition to the asylum and immigration policy.
Among the groups opposed to the asylum and immigration policy there is much interest with respect to Frontex, the European Union (EU) agency that coordinates the monitoring of Europe’s borders. The left-wing activist Campaign Against Arms Dealing published a brochure on the ‘militarisation of Frontex’, containing a list of Dutch defence contractors. The AIVD sees this as a possible call to take action.
Regional groups were especially active in the organisation and maintenance of various tent camps belonging to Somali and Iraqi asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal procedures. The Anarchist Group Amsterdam (AGA) was involved at the camp on Notweg in Osdorp, and AFA-Fryslan at the tent camp and deportation centre in Ter Apel. In addition, AFA The Hague was heavily involved in the organisation of the tent camp at the Koekamp in The Hague, and played a part in preventing this camp from being cleared. The AIVD maintained contacts with the local authorities regarding the actions of these groups.
The report devotes almost 400 words to this topic whereas the next one on the list, Right Wing Extremism gets merely a quarter of that, involving claims that Right Wing Extremism is all but dead in The Netherlands. However, releasing a report on the militarization of border control and the participation of Dutch corporations in what I call “the asylum seeker industrial complex” is listed as a threat of more importance than Right Wing violence.
Two weeks ago, when I wrote about refugees replacing terrorists in Europe’s collective imagination, I mentioned that, unlike terrorists, this new threat comes with the added bonus of being an expansive category which can include more people and from a more diverse background than the limiting “terrorist”, who has to be confined and boxed within the boundaries of a certain ideology. Little did I know back then that the Dutch Intelligence Services would be proving my point so soon.
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