Special Story for and about refugees
Nederlandse tekst: Inleiding:
Over het ontstaan van De Mensensmokkelaar van Amsterdam – Meursam
De Mensensmokkelaar van Amsterdam door MEURS A.M. Dl 1 – Meursam
De Mensensmokkelaar van Amsterdam door MEURS A.M. Dl 2 en 3 wordt vervolgd – Meursam
This is from a SPECIAL with the horror refugeestory DE MENSENSMOKKELAAR VAN AMSTERDAM/ THE AMSTERDAM HUMAN SMUGGLER which for the first time appeared on the 18th of January 2017 as DE MENSENSMOKKELAAR VAN AMSTERDAM in HetWerk66A, literary scribbling book of Meurs A.M. and that was causing a shock here and there. On the 18th of February 2017 by supplementary sheets an English traduction was added: THE AMSTERDAM HUMAN SMUGGLER.
THIS SPECIAL is the third edition of the combined Dutch English publication especially to support the refugees between procedures, the undocumented refugees, especially of WE ARE HERE (www. wijzijnhier.org) who got nothing from city or state nor they can return to their land of origin.
Like in the original edition I combine my story with the heartrending statements of the refugee from Sudan, Hashim, because I never saw the situation of a refugee in Holland and Europe described more moving. By Hashim I read, after he ended his life, how he, before it became that far, first was killed intellectually ‘of some of my harsh experiences and suffering’. This, and the way he describes this, cut me to the marrow. I can’t add anything to that.
What I as a Dutch writer can do is imagine what can happen when de haters of strangers make one step ahead. The more since the Dutch goverment these last 10 years was very much influenced by right wing racist party’s like PVV and FVD instead of listening to the UHNCR and Amnesty International.
This imagination became, inspired by the story of Jaroslaw Hasek, titled The Amsterdam human trafficker, my story THE AMSTERDAM HUMAN SMUGGLER. Meurs A.M.
1
Theorie was a young yet mature man of around 35 who never really knew for certain how he had gotten his name. Was it supposed to be like ‘Theorie’ as opposed to ‘practice’? Did his mother call him this as a ‘pay-back’ against his father who had abandoned him before his birth? Did she do this to revenge his father – to which he taken a distinctive resemblance? What Theorie himself always said was “Theorie precedes practice and then it is Theorie which returns back from that practice.” Yes, yes of course that must be so, people would say ironically. Or was the origin of the name a combination of his grandfathers from his father’s side with his grandmothers name on his mother’s side? Theo and Rie. In anycase his mother found this a bit comical – but she also disappeared from his life before he could actually ask her more about it.
Whatever the origin of the name was, Theorie was not satisfied with his life thus far. He did not have the smarts for anything scientific nor to become rich. He could not write nor did he possess any artistic abilities so he thought to himself – I will go into politics as a right-wing populist! And what was the political catch phrase that everyone was talking about – the mass immigration of refugees. Yes! And Islam, and nationalism, and being against Europe…Yes!
Obviously there was already lots of activity on this front, but Theorie thought he could at least add a somewhat intellectual flavor to it all. He did often over-estimate his own abilities. He thought he was being original when he said it was not enough to just speak against the immigration wave, that we have to tighten and even close the borders, that we should send them back. He wanted to actually show in action that he could in fact get refugees to return to their home countries and that less of them would come into the country. This last part, about less coming into the country he thought was rather cunning of himself; the refugee stream should not be cut off completely because it was in fact their existence in the country which had and would continue to create support for his populist right-wing political cause. As Theorie you also should be practical. And that is why he gave his party the name ‘The Party for Theory & Practice’ or PTP.
It was at this time that Theorie found the quotation. Not that he was the kind that would frequent book-stores, but he would sometimes rummage through the on-sale books which were set out on tables outside. For 1 or 2 Euro you could hardly go wrong. The title caught his attention immediately; ‘The People-Trafficker of Amsterdam’. It was of course ‘the Amsterdam’ but also ‘the People-Trafficker’. People-smuggling, trafficking in women, all of these are topics of the day. He did not know the author of the book and only later recognized that he was the same author as <The Good Soldier Svejk>. He knew this book but was not overly impressed by it. This Soldier Svejk appeared to him a bit of a fool, a loser. This book seemed also to disappoint him; they were very short stories and the story entitled ‘The People-Trafficker of Amsterdam’ was actually only 3 pages long. And that turned out to be only about the impact of trashy sentimental novels on the lives of some people. So that did nothing for him.
But then he read this:
<In an isolated back street of Amsterdam, near the harbor, where almost a hundred aliens disappear every year, there is a small café that also rents rooms. In the drinks that are given to the people who overnight here they add sedatives and then…..the bed and guest are dropped through a trapdoor to the basement. A knock on the head, a chilling muffled cry …. Beside the café there is a butcher’s shop. Their meat is so cheap the low prices ensure the store is always full of customers. The meat has a strange taste – there is indeed human flesh cut! Do you want to know how that works? In the basement, the ‘guests’ are beaten to pieces with a blow from an ax, slaughtered, cut up and then at night the meat is transported to the butcher shop.>
Theorie forgot about his cute intellectual touch that he wanted to add to the refugee question, he now knew exactly what he had to do!
But not long after all of this, he also realized that someone with his reputation could not possibly do this by himself. He would need to set up his very own needed Asylum Center, an AC but a very specific type of AC , a Private Asylum Center, a PAC. We should all do what we are good at, add value in his or her own particular way. And one with a butchers shop nearby! He placed an advertisement.
An ad looking for the director or a PAC ….beside an Islamlic or Halal butchers shop?
No that would not do. Because Theorie was convinced that someone who applies for a ‘pro-refugee’ position does not get to the opposite, especially not to the extreme opposite, the other extreme.
But one could expect it the other way around and you could never obviously place an ad for the murdering of refugees. Not yet anyway. Some people will just have to have some patience!
Theorie placed and ad for a ‘personal-assistant’. An ‘assistant for him, Theorie, with his anti-refugee, zenophobic anti-foreigner, anti-Moslem, and anti-Europe reputation. Anyone answering the ad would have to be interviewed to be clear that in fact the opposite would be expected of him as appeared in the ad. At this point one would have to see how the respondents would respond.
But one had to think this through. If this person, after some thought, still said yes but then later succumbed to his ‘pro-refugee’ sentiments, especially when it came to actually physically eliminating them, the person would not be able to turn back. Theorie had to think this through.
So he placed the ad for a ‘personal assistant’. About dozen people responded and it seemed that most had drawn the conclusion that he needed a bodyguard and accordingly these types answered the ad.
A totally different type, an old hippie with a pony-tail but not so old, around 45 or so, aroused his interest. Theorie asked him “Do you know my company goals? OK fine. But are you willing to provide some special in-put, are you willing to make some personal sacrifices for the job?
You will have to do exactly the opposite of what the advertisement actually says!
You have to go up at the station and pick up asylum-seekers and bid them welcome, you have to register them and even coddle them if necessary and set up a reception center. Are you able to do that?
I have to know that first before I explain myself. If you do not immediately say no, then I want you to sleep on it for a night and come back tomorrow, we’ll talk further about it. At least if you agree to my proposal without asking questions and without knowing exactly what it entails or why, then we can proceed further.”
The next day without asking any questions, the applicant, named Rein said yes.
Well, “said Theorie, “our goal is to get rid of asylum seekers. I can tell you that now is really what you wanted and what is the reason you came here, and we can reach that goal.
The question is really, what are you willing to do to achieve this? You have indicated that you are willing to go totally against the values which you had at first indicated were your own and can pretend publicly to be a ‘friend of asylum-seekers’. But the real question is: what are you ultimately willing to do about getting rid of asylum seekers? How far dare you go?
I’m not saying you should have to, but I need to know if, for example you might commit in bourgeois jargon ‘a crime’, even if it included a murder, would you do this to get rid of asylum seekers?
At this point the applicant ‘personal assistant’ wanted a couple of days to think it over.
After those few days he came back and said: “It is not easy. I’m not used to do things against my character, against my conscience. It is very hard for me to be pro asylum-seeker, to be kind to them, to ‘coddle’ them. But it would just as difficult for me to murder them. I am against asylum seekers, but I’m not a murderer.
But I believe that it will still succeed me, right by this combination of the two that the contradiction between the two raises. I must first act very much against my nature and act warm and welcoming and coddle them – and because I will find this so revolting and frustrating it will generate enough aggression in me, that I could probably be able to actually murder them. So yes, I will do it!
Theorie patted him on his shoulder and hugged him. “I knew I could count on you. I know when I look at people what kind of dwells inside.
2
In the following days they walked around a lot in the dark – they could not be seen together. Officially, they each represented a totally different- each one hostile to each other -side of the asylum issue. Usually it was Theorie that did the talking and it seemed as if he had not been able to really discuss his inner most thoughts before with anyone. It seemed that he Rein regarded as his great sounding board, perhaps because they were so different. Rein looked around 40-ish, not that old, perhaps 45, but looked like an old hippie, with pony-tail. Theorie looked around mid-thirties and was dressed in a suit and looked the’ ideal son-in’.
On their walks Theorie usually wore a hat. He was too restless to sit down anywhere and they often walked along the canals. Properties that had accessibility to water were of peculiar interest.
They stood in front of an old butchers shop – Theorie knew it was nearly bankrupt.
We can take it over you know – and probably right away. There is another bank over there, but those banks have drastically cut back, they were bailed out once but that will not happen a second time, they face a huge loss of image. So that building will most likely also soon be empty.
Apart from exploring the places where everything which was being planned would take place, Theorie, described his idea how they would explain-away the disappearance of their allotted refugees, and how they would explain their much larger number of people compared to other ordinary ACs. And finally, he wanted to show how he wanted to maintain his supply of refugees.
“Look,” said Theorie, “we therefore provide a thru flow of people without obviously explaining the reason why. At least not at first, perhaps later when other more countries come to realize that it really cannot be otherwise. How then do we explain how we are arriving at such a high rate of thru traffic.
There are a number of possibilities to explain the discrepancies – people disappeared on their way to the asylum centrum in Ter Apel because they went under-ground, others were distracted by the temptations of the big city, who think they can find their way outside of any asylum-centres.
There are also in those in Ter Apel , individuals whom are actually extradited or whose refugee status is rejected. These are just a few, but where possible we should take advantage of that and act as if we were responsible. We can play the same game as the Dutch government – play dumb and pretend we do not know that those people be immediately arrested on arrival, decapitated or at least locked up.
We bring a group of people to Schiphol, they wave to the press there, but somehow they never actually arrive at the gate. Via a short-cut we get them slightly disguised return somehow via a back-door back to Amsterdam, draw their plan, or log on to ‘We Are Here’ and the circuit begins again.
‘We Are Here’ is a group of about 200 according to the government of failed asylum seekers who cannot return. That is our first target. Another group gets on the plane…. but then returns with the next plane back to the Netherlands. We have already agreed to that with some corrupt authorities on the other end and with ‘new documentation’ they would just look like ‘fresh’ or new asylum-seekers. That way we can keep the stream of refugees flowing.
Of course there will also be those with a little pocket money who really will attempt to return to their country of origin, in the knowledge that they really have no chance in the Netherlands and hoping still to escape the authorities in their own country.
Some think that with a couple of hundred euro they can start some kind of small business. Hope is a strange thing and does funny things to people. And hope will return even if it has to take some detours.
If indeed it does not succeed in their land of origin, they then suddenly hope that it will all succeed the next time and they stand with luck again at our doorstep and subscribe to our “procedures”, not at understanding what that actually entails. But people are stubborn, especially in their hope.
People who end up using a smuggler will inevitably keep coming back to Europe.”
Theorie said after they had dodged an oncoming group of noisy young Moroccans. “It really is a hopeless case and ends up costing a fortune. It would be cheaper and more effective than to have just leave a hole in a Greek fence and then start some Balkan fires – we do have local contacts for that. Increasingly far-right parties in fact see that a full closure is counterproductive to their supporters. People would think that things have settled down, the refugee flow has stopped and people could fall back asleep again and the traditional political parties could continue with their traditional inertia. So with a breach in a fence where a few thousand refugees break through the blame game can begin again and voila -everybody focused again.”
Before they departed Theorie put a copy of the book “The Amsterdam trafficker” in Rein’s hand. “Here,” he said, “do not waste time and only read the lead story from the title then you will understand exactly what I’m getting at. Look after the book well. It could give some others the idea. I will look after the real-estate we need. Think carefully about the secret connection between PAC and the butcher. Hire some staff for the PAC, and ensure that there is one person you can trust and which ensures the supply of PAC to butchery. The rest of the staff – let this person hire them – should know nothing. Hire a butcher which you can rely on blindly because he is on our side but preferably also because you know something about him. Let him hire his own staff at the butchery. ‘Great, that should about do it!’ ‘he heard himself say and could not avoid the cliché of our times – “Have a nice day” he said. But otherwise everything went fine.
He gave Rein a warm handshake – he had found himself a confident and side-kick. (to be continued)