How we dehumanize children

This is the time of year when some people need to disturb a child 's party if necessary. That's why I had been waiting for a few days as blocking friezes or other Black Piet enthusiasts grab it for the Iraqi boy Nemr (9 years old). The Nemr Children's Party also threatens to be disturbed now that he is deported as an exhausted asylum seeker, to Iraq, where his parents were born. And you do not assume that the children's friends, like Zwarte Piet's supporters, let that happen. My heart is full of anticipation.

Nemr is known for a documentary by Tim Hofman on the forgiveness of children. The coalition lifted the pardon granted to children: children deported to the Netherlands, such as Nemr, are also. The fear is that parents are abusing their children to obtain resident status themselves and the coalition wants to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible for refugees.

Hofman shows how much it rubs him: he takes Nemr to the Binnenhof, where it turns out that no politician knows what to do when a boy who sneezes lightly and who wears big glasses says: why do I have to leave?

Nevertheless, in the last elections, the country voted for a majority that does not want rehabilitation for children (VVD, PVV, CDA, SGP, FvD – 77 seats). The position of 50Plus is not clear. In the coalition agreement, the D66 and CU (total 24 seats) joined the majority. The cabinet and the chamber are following the people. Call it democracy.

You also have the trap of good intentions. Some politicians and activists have managed to make people suspect for years. All politicians are therefore aware of the risk of supporting asylum seekers: angry voters.

In this minefield, it is the real tragedy, most citizens and politicians opted for the dehumanization of the refugee. Our language is full of it. Asylum flows. Suction effect. Testosterone bombs. Tsunami of asylum.

That's why politicians do not talk about individual cases. There is a logic, you do not base tax or health policy on individual cases, but here the formula has clearly become a self-protection.

Because if an "individual case" becomes a public familiarity – Mauro, Lili, Howick, Nemr – You see, that says it all, always the same: no politician has arguments. Even Wilders and Baudet are silent.

Everyone understands that a country can only host refugees indefinitely. But you are still trapped in being dehumanized as a society – you do not have to be a Black Pete activist to know that something is wrong.

Tom-Jan Meeus ([email protected]; @tomjanmeeus ) writes an exchange column with Lotfi El Hamidi at this location.