The talk show Op1 astonished television viewers last night with the special from the asylum seekers center in Ter Apel. “This is just tasteless. It’s not a zoo there!”
It has been the subject of much discussion in our country for weeks: the asylum crisis. The makers of the talk show Op1 thought it would be a good idea to make a broadcast from the asylum seekers center in Ter Apel last night, but the effect turned out to be extremely unappetising at times. Especially when asylum seekers appeared behind fences.
Zoo
TV viewers react furiously to this uncomfortable image. “I don’t need to see this. This is not a zoo where you are going to broadcast cozy. And that for the EO. Ridiculous!!” Marian tweeted.
Viewer Levi just doesn’t think this is possible. “Dehumanized, like looking at animals in a zoo. So inhumane and all for the ratings. Disgusting.”
Blog feedser is angry too. “It’s awful. The vast majority are real refugees, are first treated inhumanely by our government and then Op1 turns these people into a kind of zoo.”
left-wing elite
Carlos denounces the ‘left elite’. “How inhumane! Those people are sitting there with dirty toilets, stabbings, assaults, unprotected and without a tent, they can’t sleep because of the cold… And the left-wing elite is just watching them like in the zoo, but with a glass of wine.”
Guus thinks it is a low point in Dutch TV history. “Broadcasting ‘live from Ter Apel’ on 1 is the disgusting pinnacle of Dutch talk show journalism. An asylum seekers’ center is not an attraction, not a zoo. Who the hell thought this was a good idea?”
‘My God’
Presenter Diederik Ebbinge also does not know what he sees. “My god,” he says.
Madelief then: “This really is the well of good taste. Has anyone in this whole process raised their hand to say that maybe this wouldn’t be such a good idea?”
Plant trader Victor Hopman: “Was there also an in-depth interview with Glennis Grace to ask how she experienced this week?”
And Erica Meiland ex Sander van Betten: “Those people behind those fences. Just embarrassing. Op1, don’t do it anymore.”
Dixic
Trouw columnist Emine Uğur: “That fence. The now famous Dixi who is half on it. The drinks on the table. The ladies who sit with their backs to it. Everything, really everything is so, so wrong.”
Viewer Sjoerd: “Summarized in a single shot why a location broadcast of Op1 from Ter Apel was never a good idea. Shameful. Apologies from both Op1 and the COA responsible for this degrading piece of sensational TV would be in order.”
And finally, RTL Breakfast news presenter Boyan Ephraim: “Just that fence, those canopies already make me feel uncomfortable, let alone this. Can such a broadcast really not be made from the studio? You don’t want to do this to asylum seekers, the harrowing situation and to yourself, do you? Regardless of what you think of the subject.”
The many angry reactions on Twitter:
