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She's back! Ayaan Hirsi Ali came back to Holland, and immediately started yet another political and media frenzy. The current drama centres on Ayaan's safety.Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Since criticising Islam for condoning violence against women, she has been on the run from Islamist extremists trying to kill her. The warning note was attached to the body of murdered cineaste Theo van Gogh with a knife. 
Ayaan has had an eventful year. In the summer of 2006 she had to escape to the US after a court ruled in favour of her neighbours who were afraid to share a building with a terrorist target.
This came at around the same time that the populist immigration minister Rita Verdonk first took her Dutch passport away for lying about her name, and giving it back a month later after it turned out that Somali family law allowed her to use her grandfathers name after all. The matter led to the fall of the Dutch government in June 2006, when junior coalition partner D66 lost their trust in the minister, while the other two parties (CDA and VVD) insisted on keeping her in the job. Verdonk has, in the meantime, been kicked out of the parliamentary group of the VVD, because of, yes, loss of trust.
The current drama centres on Ayaan's safety.
When she fled to the US, the Dutch government pledged to protect her there. The government now claims this was just for a year. The protection expires this month.
Ayaan apparently agrees that the Dutch financed protection cannot go indefinitely. She has now asked for more time to raise the necessary private funds. Salman Rushdie, who has joined the debate, indicated that the former VVD party leader, Gerrit Zalm, promised her protection forever when he 'stole' her (and the many votes she represented) away from the rival PvdA party.
Here’s a current guide to health insurance, doctors, dentists and pharmacies.
Lost in the Dutch immigration system? Look no further than this guide compiled for our Survival Guide 2009.
Some basic facts and figures about living and working in the Netherlands.
The challenges and benefits of the maternity system in the Netherlands and how it differs to other countries.
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