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Racy Film Test For Would-be Dutch Immigrants
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"What we are trying to do in the film is show the Netherlands in as realistic a way as possible" Verdonk said.
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THE
HAGUE, March 17, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Would-be immigrants in the Netherlands would have to watch a film
featuring a topless woman and gay men kissing to test their readiness
to learn Dutch values and liberate in the country's liberal society.
"What
we are trying to do in the film is show the Netherlands in as
realistic a way as possible, and it is perfectly possible that you'll
see homosexuals kissing here or a topless woman sunning herself on the
beach," Dutch immigration minister Rita Verdonk told Reuters on
Friday, March 17.
She
added that an edited version has been prepared for countries such as
Iran where such images are banned.
The
film is part of a package set for immigrants to go through before
being granted entry into the country.
This
week, the Netherlands imposed some of the world's toughest national
entry laws to ensure newcomers are equipped with "vital
integration skills".
Would-be
immigrants in the Netherlands would have to pass exams on Dutch
language and culture exams in their home country.
"If
you want to come and live here than we expect you to learn the
language ... It comes across as a hard line but it is a line that
shows more respect for people then just leaving them to their own
devices," Verdonk said.
Only
potential migrants from outside Europe, North America and Australia
must take the test, which costs 350 euros($417).
Some
14,000 applicants, mainly from Turkey, Morocco and Surinam, are
expected to sit the test each year.
Offensive
The
compulsory racy movie has drawn fire from many Dutch activists as
offensive.
Dutch
theologian Karel Steenbrink said the 105-minute movie would be
offensive to many Muslims willing to come to the Netherlands.
Steenbrink,
a professor at the University of Utrecht, agreed.
"It
is not a prudent way of welcoming people to the Netherlands."
"Minister
Verdonk has radical ideas," he added.
Verdonk,
a 50-year-old former prison governor known as "Iron Rita",
has been known for her hard-headed approach to her job.
She
had earlier told a meeting of her liberal VVD party that immigrants
must comply with a national code of conduct by speaking Dutch in the
street.
After
watching the movie, which is available in most languages, applicants
will be then quizzed on important Dutch factoids such as the number of
provinces that make up the Netherlands.
Integrating
immigrants has been the subject of much debate in the
Netherlands since the emergence of right-wing politicians such as the
late Pim Fortuyn.
More
recently the debate got another impulse when tension between ethnic
groups flared after controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh was killed
by a Dutchman of Moroccan descent for his anti-Islam movie.
A
series of Muslim sites and mosques have come under racist attacks in
the wake of Van Gogh’s murder.
Muslims
make up one million of the Netherlands’s 16 million population.
Turks represent 80 percent of the Muslim minority.
Europe’s
main rights and democracy watchdog, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), expressed concern in May 2005 at the
increasing Dutch intolerance towards Muslims and the "climate of
fear" under which the minority was living.
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