Cohen calls for action on ‘unrest’ in Amsterdam

17 January 2006

AMSTERDAM — Mayor Job Cohen of Amsterdam spoke out on Tuesday about his worries of disorder in the city.

“There is unrest in the city”, he said after talks with the chairpersons of Amsterdam’s 14 districts. The meeting was organised following several incidents involving young people in a few parts of the city since the start of the year.

“There is an underlying feeling whereby it would only take minor incidents to cause an outburst,” Cohen said.

He said there was a revival of unrest, after a period of relative calm in Amsterdam, due to the activities of about 100 young people with behavioural problems. “We are now working with justice officials to find a solution,” he stated.

Cohen said officials in all the city districts are poised to nip any unrest in the bud.
Moroccan-Dutch youth were involved in many of the incidents Cohen was referring to. A group of youths broke the windows of 39 cars in the southern part of the Pijp district around New Year.

Locals in the area have also complained about an increase in threatening behaviour by groups of young people.

A Jewish resident was threatened and a firework was thrown through the window pane of his home. A gay couple have reported being the regular victims of harassment.

A group of youths threw stones at a police station and set a car on fire in the Slotervaart district last week after a 17-year-old scooter rider died in a crash while apparently fleeing from a police officer.

But Cohen said there were many more incidents “that had not reached the media” whereby groups of native Dutch youth were involved.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2006]

Subject: Dutch news