While the greatest heat is over and Assen and the surrounding area recovered a bit from the TT bustle, Drenthe experienced another week with very diverse news. For example, for the first time this year there was a farmers’ protest where demonstrators took to the highways with tractors and we closed the month of June en masse at the gas station.
Below you can read a selection of the news in Drenthe from last week. We have listed a number of important news facts for you.
The number of reports of sexual violence has increased considerably in the past year. The Center for Sexual Violence Groningen-Drenthe saw the number of reports rise by almost 40 percent. In 2021 there were 115 reports, last year there were 162. According to the CSG, the cause of the increase is the episode of the program BOOS about The Voice of Holland. The revelations were both supportive and triggering for the victims. The fact that the number of reports has increased does not mean that sexual violence has also increased. “In any case, more people know how to find their way to us and that is good news,” the center says.
This week, another report was published showing that the living conditions of asylum seekers in emergency reception locations in the Netherlands are not doing well. In this case, it concerns an investigation by the National Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children. Maja Zuiderveld from Emmen said that this problem has been going on for a long time. She worked for many years at the azc in Emmen, where as location manager she was mainly concerned with the education of asylum children. She encounters the harrowing situations a lot. “Due to the current policy, whereby asylum seekers sometimes have to wait six months for a decision, they end up in a hopeless situation where they do not get any perspective. The children do not participate in education, do not make friends and are condemned to spend whole days had to wait.”
“An accelerated registration process should suppress a large part of the nuisance that safe residents cause in Nieuw-Weerdinge and Ter Apel”. State Secretary Eric van der Burg expressed that hope on Wednesday during his visit to Nieuw-Weerdinge. “The nuisance is mainly caused by a small group. They are usually Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians,” explained the VVD minister. “We want to speed up the registration process for that group of troublemakers, so that it is clear within a week who is not allowed to stay.” Van der Burg hopes to accelerate the removal of the largest group of nuisance-givers from the area around Ter Apel and Nieuw-Weerdinge.
On Thursday, the collapsed agricultural agreement was debated in The Hague. Several farmers seized this moment for a new farmers’ protest. Demonstrators from Drenthe, among others, gathered along the A28 near Rogat. They traveled on tractors to The Hague via the highway. Eventually, these tractors were taken off the road at ‘t Harde and the drivers were inspected.
And long lines this week at the gas stations. Friday was the last day that the temporary excise duty reduction was in effect. That means that fuel prices are a lot higher from this weekend. And that was noticeable, also at filling station owners in Drenthe. It was extra busy all week and especially on Friday many people decided to fill up the tank.