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Europe

Dutch make ID papers compulsory

2005-01-02

The Netherlands has introduced a new law making it compulsory to produce identity documents in a government bid to crack down on crime and boost security. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's government secured parliamentary backing last year for the new ID law amid concerns about crime, public disorder and potential attacks from activists opposed to the presence of Dutch troops in Iraq. Concerns about crime have dominated Dutch politics since the rise of the late anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn in 2002. The 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States and last year's Madrid train bombings have added to worries about security. Many European countries already have some form of identity card scheme, but the move has drawn fire from critics in the Netherlands, a country renowned for its liberal attitude to prostitution, cannabis, euthanasia and gay marriage.

So now I guess you can visit a hooker, smoke a little grass with her, euthanize her, and marry her boyfriend. You'll just have to produce identity papers to do it.

The law, which came into effect on Saturday, makes it mandatory for people from the age of 14 to produce an identity card when asked to by police. "People involved in crime are getting younger and younger, so I've no problem with the age limit," said 33-year-old Dutchman Ramon Geskus. "For privacy reasons I think it's not a good thing but it's becoming a necessity to maintain order." He added: "I just hope the police don't misuse it just to harass Moroccans or Turks and other people."

I'm sure Theo van Gogh would feel the same way, if he was alive...

Those who fail to produce a valid ID card - including schoolchildren and pensioners - could face a fine of up to 2250 euros ($3061) as part of a law-and-order drive by the centre-right coalition. The law change, approved by the upper house of parliament in June, tightens existing rules that demand people produce proof of identity in limited circumstances, such as on public transport or at soccer games, the government says. Passports, driving licences, a national identity card or residence permits will be accepted as valid ID. Police are only to ask for ID as part of regular duties - such as investigating an incident - and are not to carry out separate ID checks.

Posted by:tipper

#6 Anonymoose: But at a particular point in scale they have just the *opposite* effect from what you want: instead of policing the criminal, you only police, and harass, and annoy, and dehumanize the law abiding.

In most - if not all - of East Asia, residents are required to produce ID cards on demand. I can't say I've felt particularly dehumanized during my travels there. The good thing about these laws is that they allow the police to verify whether someone is a legal resident of the country in question. This is a good part of the reason that illegal immigrants are not a particularly big problem over there, even though many foreigners with visibly foreign features or accents are in-country on work permits.

Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-01-02 9:31:12 PM

#5 OK, joeblow, send the whole lot of them back. Works for me. Most of them would want to stay with the husband anyway; I was just suggesting a way a few women would be able to gain some freedom.

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-01-02 2:44:10 PM

#4 Any women and young children with her may stay if she signs a paper - in her native language - that she and her children will learn Dutch and assimilate into society, and she will work.
Sounds too bleeding heart for me. So who's going to take care of the kids while the woman works, provided she can find a job that hires her without knowing Dutch or English? And who is going to do the monitoring of this family 1 year, 2 years, from now? And are those kids not going to resent having their family split up and not having daddy allowed in the country?

Posted by: joeblow 2005-01-02 2:04:25 PM

#3 ID cards have to rate as one of the worst techniques known for improving security in a society. The problems is that they *do* work in a controlled environment, like in a building or a small, heavily policed area. But at a particular point in scale they have just the *opposite* effect from what you want: instead of policing the criminal, you only police, and harass, and annoy, and dehumanize the law abiding. Ironically, ID cards suffer from the same paradox as gun control: a reasonably good idea in a dense urban area, but a rotten idea in any "red" county.

Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-01-02 1:09:33 PM

"I just hope the police don't misuse it just to harass Moroccans or Turks and other people."

On the contrary - I just hope they do.

Hupailet Grereting6218 - Excellent idea. But don't announce it before-hand; if they know it's coming, they'll shake hands since it's OK to lie to an infidel.

As a matter of fact, I'd suggest having women officers at all border entry points; any man arriving who won't shake a woman's hand gets sent back. (Any women and young children with her may stay if she signs a paper - in her native language - that she and her children will learn Dutch and assimilate into society, and she will work. If none of this has occurred to some degree within a year, back they go too.)

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-01-02 11:14:54 AM

#1 The Dutch could really clean up their unassimilated minority problem by exiling anyone who refuses to shake hands with a woman...

Posted by: Hupailet Grereting6218 2005-01-02 7:57:50 AM

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