‘Close borders’, Geert Wilders shouts in Ter Apel. ‘Asylum stop’. But most people in the stricken village itself continue to say that genuine refugees are welcome. “But something has to be done now about the nuisance caused by those rotten apples.”
“Is this a counter-demonstration?” A young Emmenaar looks at the group that is hiding behind prepared fences in the shopping center of Ter Apel. They carry signs saying ‘Don’t vote for hate’ and ‘Refugees welcome’ and are getting ready to demonstrate against Geert Wilders’ visit.
“Too bad”, says the Emmenaar.
‘He gives it a name’
In Ter Apel, many people are on their feet on Saturday afternoon for the arrival of the PVV leader. Part fanatical supporters, part just curious. They do not all fully agree with Wilders’ views, but everyone is happy with the national attention he brings. Because they haven’t felt heard here for so long.
“He gives it a name, he counteracts,” says a Ter Apeler. “But he can’t improve the world on his own. Closing those borders is of course not possible. You have to remain realistic. You know, those real refugees, those Syrians, you don’t hear them. They are just thankful.”
Theft, burglary, vandalism, intimidation
Wilders’ visit is used by the public to express frustration about the nuisance in the village, which is becoming increasingly violent. Everyone here has stories about theft, burglary, vandalism, (sexual) harassment or worse. “Our daughter was assaulted by an asylum seeker,” says a woman from Ter Apel. “The police quickly caught him, but before the case against him was completed, he had already left the Netherlands. That feels very bad.”
Yet she also says, like most Ter Apelers here, that she is not against asylum seekers. People who need help should get help. Only that nuisance must finally be tackled, those rotten apples that rob and steal must go.
‘You are only haters’
The atmosphere in anticipation of Wilders is calm, until the group of twenty or thirty counter-demonstrators starts to stir loudly. “Refugees welcome, racists not!” they shout. Fierce discussions arise over the fences. ,,Do any of you have the same problems as us? No! You are just hate mongers.”
Police and boas keep the groups separate. “Don’t give hate a voice!” shouts one group. ,,Azc, get rid of it!”, they respond on the other side of the fence. A few young people with a large box turn on loud music near the fence. “We don’t want to hear this,” they said. ,,We come for Geert Wilders.”
‘Shamefully abandoned’
The PVV leader arrives around three o’clock. His speech is difficult to understand due to screams and a siren from counter-demonstrators. “You have been shamefully abandoned,” he says. “Nobody cares about you.” Then he starts on his spearheads: asylum freeze, borders closed, every asylum seeker who commits a crime out of the country.
,,Shut up,” a man shouts to the back of the noisy demonstrators. ,,I don’t understand it at all”, sighs a woman next to him.
Noorden is not against refugees
The counter-demonstrators have announced in advance that they are in Ter Apel to show ‘that we in the North of the Netherlands are not against refugees, but for refugees’. According to the group, the presence of Wilders provokes the North and specifically Ter Apel to portray as a center of xenophobia and racism – especially because the right-wing extremist Dutch People’s Union is said to be present.
Yet it is mainly the Ter Apelers themselves who feel attacked by the counter-demonstration. The tension is rising. Someone buys a carton of eggs to throw on the protesters and is stopped by law enforcement. Along the fence, the confrontations become fiercer. Some protesters behave defiantly, some bystanders get emotional and angry.
‘Then they dismiss us as racists?’
Eventually, the police ask the protesters to leave. Accompanied by officers, they walk towards the police station, bystanders who want to be stopped after them. When it turns out that part of the group cannot leave immediately by car, but has to wait for the bus, the atmosphere becomes grimmer. Groups of young people, partly from outside Ter Apel, gather menacingly around the group, the police standing between them.
“What’s going on here?” asked a passer-by. “Oh, left and right together. You should not want to. Live and let live.”
It’s not getting out of hand. When the bus finally arrives and the demonstrators can go home, most of the bystanders have left. An emotional Ter Apeler stands with his arms folded, waiting for them to leave. His voice trembles with anger. “We are here with the shit and then they dismiss us as racists?”