Surprising Europe - Detention Centres in the Netherlands

The treatment of refugees in the Netherlands goes beyond our imagination. The magazine “Surprising Europe” presented the unbelievable situation of African immigrants that come to the Netherlands. The interviewed prisoners in the detention centre in Zeist illustrated how they were treated badly although they are no criminals. One refugee passed through the Netherlands, intending to go to Canada but was brought to the detention centre in Zeist.

 



Alexander Dolmatov

So, the question is, why are immigrants held in detention centres in this country although they are no criminals? Refugees who are in the asylum procedure are held in these centres to be available for the Dutch government all the time. The conditions in these “prisons” vary of course, but most prisoners are treated very badly. They do not have enough time outside, no contact to their families and if they are ill there is no doctor to care for them. All kinds of resistance and protest (suicide intent, emotional reaction, not eating) lead to violence against them or they are put into an isolation cell, where the conditions seems to be even worse.
A very shocking example was the young Russian Alexander Dolmatov.  He was an anti-Putin activist and fled from imprisonment to the Netherlands. Due to complications and errors, his application was rejected and he had to stay in a detention centre where he committed suicide.

If he had been granted asylum, he would still be alive. Another example where people had to die in vain is the fire of 2005. The huge fire broke out in the Schiphol detention centre, in which 11 people were killed and 14 injured, among them also guards. The fire broke out in one of the cells but as the prisoners alarmed the guards, they were not taken seriously. When the guards finally realized the danger, they had to unlock each cell separately. By then, it was already too late for some of them.

Cell

The Dutch immigration law is visibly a danger, rather than a support, to most refugees and this problem has to be addressed.

EU individual paragraph

The reasons for founding of the European Union

Brainstorming

• World War II – prevent war
• ECSC – economy ( 1962 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany)
• then EEC and Euratom
• 1967 – Merger Treaty in Brussels joined the three
• 1993 - named European Union
  
  

Original Paragraph

The European Union was created to unite and stabilize Europe after the second World War. When World War II had ended in 1945, Europe was devastated and shocked by the unethical results of National Socialism. To prevent such a thing from happening again, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded in 1962 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany to ensure free movement of coal and steel in Europe. This was the first step toward reconstructing European economy and ensuring peace. In 1957 the Treaty of Rome put forth the European Economic Community (EEC) to create a European common market and the Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) to develop nuclear energy. In 1967 the Merger Treaty in Brussels combined the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom and produced the European Communities (EC). After many enlargements the EC was finally named the European Union (EU) in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty. Many more countries joined the EU after that to ensure a democratic, equal and prosperous Europe. Back then and still the EU stands for stability and peace in Europe.

[182 words]

Feedback Summary 1
The first problem we found was in the second sentence. I wrote of "unethical results of National Socialism". We discussed if the word "consequences" would fit better because consequences sound broader and not as small as result. The third sentence was written in a German word order so we agreed that I should change that. Another mistake we found was that I used "ensure" three times. I will use grant and maintain instead. In the last sentence I wanted to say that something started a Long time ago and still lasts. Dominik knew the Phrase "up until today" for that purpose. All in all my colleagues liked my paragraph.

Rewritten Paragraph

The European Union was created to unite and stabilize Europe after the second World War. When World War II had ended in 1945, Europe was devastated and shocked by the unethical consequences of National Socialism. To prevent that cruelty from happening again, in 1962 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany to ensure free movement of coal and steel in Europe. This was the first step toward reconstructing European economy and maintaining peace. In 1957 the Treaty of Rome put forth the European Economic Community (EEC) to create a European common market and the Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) to develop nuclear energy. In 1967 the Merger Treaty in Brussels combined the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom and produced the European Communities (EC). After many enlargements the EC was finally named the European Union (EU) in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty. Many more countries joined the EU after that to grant a democratic, equal and prosperous Europe. Up until today the EU stands for stability and peace in Europe.
[180 words]

Feedback Summary 2
The main problem me and my partner found was that there are so many numbers and names in the paragraph. We felt that my text seemed like a listing of events and was hard to read. So we agreed that I could leave out one date and replace it with "later  on". My partner also thought that "after that" sounded too informal and we replaced it with "from that point on". I still think that there are many dates in my text so that it is a bit difficult to read but I could not leave out all the important names and details if they are my paragraph's topic.

Final Version
The European Union was created to unite and stabilize Europe after the Second World War. When World War II had ended in 1945, Europe was devastated and shocked by the unethical consequences of National Socialism. To prevent that cruelty from happening again, in 1962 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany to ensure free movement of coal and steel in Europe. This was the first step toward reconstructing European economy and maintaining peace. Later on the Treaty of Rome put forth the European Economic Community (EEC) to create a European common market and the Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in order to develop nuclear energy. In 1967 the Merger Treaty in Brussels combined the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom and produced the European Communities (EC). After many enlargements the EC was finally named the European Union (EU) in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty. Many more countries joined the EU from that point on to grant a democratic, equal and prosperous Europe. Up until today the EU stands for stability and peace in Europe.
[184 words]

Final Version 2
The European Union was created to unite and stabilize Europe after the Second World War. When World War II ended in 1945, Europe was devastated and shocked by the unethical consequences of National Socialism. To prevent such cruelty from happening again, in 1962 the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. This was the first step toward reconstructing the European economy and maintaining peace. Later on the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) to create a European common market and the Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in order to develop nuclear energy. In 1967 the Merger Treaty in Brussels combined the ECSC, the EEC and Euratom and created the European Communities (EC). After many enlargements the EC was finally named the European Union (EU) in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty. Many more countries joined the EU from that point on to ensure a democratic, equal and prosperous Europe. Since then the EU stands for stability and peace in Europe.
[172 words]

EU Paper Topics

• What did Austria do to put  the EU Water Framework Directive into action since 2000?

I would like to write about that topic because I have been active in an action group in Graz for about four  years. This action group tries to prevent the "Energie Steiermark" from building a hydroelectric power plant that would offend this Directive.

• How would the new EU animal health law that was proposed in 2013 change the life of Austrian animals?

This topic is interesting to me because I am vegan and am also active in a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

• EU and the deaf: What did the Brussels declaration in 2010 change?

My second language at the ITAT is Austrian Sign Language, so I am very interested in "deaf issues" and how fast or slow things are moving in this area.

• The path of "Ode to joy".

This song has a really catchy tune and I have always liked it. So it would be interesting to find out more about it.

• The path of an "Innocent Smoothie" (from Britain to Austria) without the EU.

I love Innocent smoothies and I thought about what the EU does for me. So the logical answer was: The EU brings Innocent smoothies to Austria!