Dutch Government Quits in Immigration Spat

It's Balkenende's second government to collapse.

I'm no fan of Hirshi Ali. However, yes, she lied. Not only about her name, but also about her birth date, and her story about how and why she fled Somalia. This was known for several years already. Hirshi Ali was a member of the same political party Verdonk belongs to. Everyone in that party's top knew about it, except Verdonk, which is hard to buy. They should have done something about it then, back in 2002 or so.

Verdonk first said Ayaan Hirshi Ali didn't need to worry. Great was the surprise that she wanted to strip Hirshi Ali of her Dutch citizenship, and more importantly, that she took the decision very, very fast. This led to questioning how she came to the conclusion. Verdonk came across as being very weak in defending herself during the debates that were broadcast live on Dutch television. Parliament passed a censure motion and sent Verdonk off to do her homework.

The only thing they could come up with is to have Ayaan Hirshi Ali sign a statement, in which she said to have lied about having lied. Or something. Balkenende couldn't keep his mouth shut and admitted the statement was basically made in order for Verdonk not to lose face (any further).

I think it also might have been a way of blocking lawyers of other people that had their citizenship taken away for telling lies during their request for asylum, as they were waiting eagerly for a decision, reasoning that if Ayaan Hirshi Ali could get her citizenship back, so should their clients.

Strangely enough, they only talk about Ayaan Hirshi Ali's name. Seems the lies about her birth date and story how and why she came to the Netherlands are forgotten again.

Rita Verdonk is not only a hard-liner (one of her nicknames is Iron Rita), she's also highly controversial. The opposition tried to censure her in December 2005 for misleading parliament on the Congolese affair, where Congolese authorities were given information about asylum seekers.

There was a lot of fuzz about Taida Pasić, a young woman from Kosovo, who came to the Netherlands with her parents in 1999. In 2005 the family returned to Kosovo, but the woman returned because she wanted to finish high school. She was taken from the class room and eventually sent back. She did take her finals at the Dutch embassy in Sarajevo, after she got permission from the Ministry of Education.

Rita Verdonk survived a second censure motion in the Syrian affair, where information about 181 ex-asylum seekers was given to Syria.

While Rita Verdonk also survived a censure motion about her handling the Hirshi Ali affair, coalition partner D66 withdrew from the coalition, causing the government's collapse.

Ok, that helps explain it better. There was a lot more BS that already went on than I was aware of.

I hate Iron Rita. She reminds me of Thatcher and it makes my blood run cold.