Sick of Living the European Dream

Those of us who were at the forefront of living the 'European Dream' have always been the ones paying the highest price. Without recognition. Let me give you two poignant personal examples.

First, my studies (this all happened 13 years ago):

When I decided I wanted to attend a film school in the U.K. I became a special case in so far that the Dutch government, who was committed to paying school fees and living expenses for all its students, couldn't support MY studies in any way. They simply didn't recognize my chosen profession as one they supported outside of Holland. Strange, because if I would have studied architecture in the U.K. (a discipline then available in the Netherlands at some 27 institutions against only one film school), I would have had all regular support from my government just like any other student. And the architectural course was validated by the same board as my film course. Or if I would have studied in other regions neighboring the Netherlands (Belgium, the Western states of Germany), idem ditto. The U.K. is also a neighbor, but for some reason, it wasn't close enough.

Not one to give up easily, I took out a credit line to keep me alive for three years which to date, ten years after I graduated, I am still paying back. I am not looking for sympathy, but it helps to understand how actions speak louder than words. The free movement of people within what was then the European Community, had (and has) major drawbacks which are not as 'free' as they make us believe.

But get this: when during the three month summer holidays, I returned home and tried to sign up as 'out-of-work' while looking for something to do, I was told I had no right to any of the regular social benefits because I was a student. Something which the Ministry of Education failed to recognize.

Second example, our second daughter (this happened only yesterday):

So, one would think that things will have gotten better over time. Well, the Netherlands is currently under the spell of a xenophobic anti-muslim hysteria promoted by its government. Its image of tolerance is passé, and along with many immigrants in the Netherlands, I myself have now become the victim of some new keep-them-borders-closed-type legislation.

Our second daughter was born on November 3rd of last year. Her mother is Spanish and we have been together for ten years, but we are not married.

In three weeks the baby will undertake her first trip to the Netherlands with us, so yesterday I called the Dutch consulate in Madrid to enquire about adding her to my passport, just like I did with her five-year older sister. After having given me a list of requirements (photographs, etc) the lady suddenly asked: but... are you married? -No, I said.

In that case, your daughter is not recognized as having Dutch nationality until she is three years old, at which time you have to prove that she has been under your care up until then. Obviously, coming from a country where marriage and living together is treated equal, this sounds a little unreal. But it isn't.

I was explained that this law, which came into affect in 2003, exists because some (immigrant) men were recognizing children who weren't theirs. To obtain papers for them. So, now only children within wedlock are recognized. As such, it's nothing more than a simple discriminatory law which assumes that all children born within a marriage are always the product of that marriage, while with those of us who choose not to marry, you never know who's the father... Excuse my cynicism. It's a little Orwellian.

So, the Dutch state doesn't recognize me as the father of my daughter, who in turn is not Dutch. Unlike her sister, obviously. We can request her Dutch nationality when she is three, but I'll have to hand over the receipts of her diapers...

I have no option but to express my sincerest euh, disgust, for the current government and their irrational policies, which ultimately come out of this climate of xenophobic hysteria. The Holland I knew when I left in 1988 doesn't exist anymore. And don't let anyone tell you it's the most liberal country on earth. It was, but not anymore.