A/HRC/8/31 Page 12 54. Italy referred to recommendations made by CEDAW to take effective measures to eliminate discrimination against women refugees and other women from ethnic minorities. It also referred to comments made by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women on the fact that Dutch law excludes undocumented migrant women from access to social welfare benefits, including to shelters for those facing violence. Italy invited the Netherlands to elaborate on the latest initiatives undertaken to address these issues. 55. The State Secretary for Justice stressed its position on the documentary film “Fitna”. The film exploited fears in society and comes at a period of time following attacks in New York, London and Madrid as well as the murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands. Debates on changes in society increasingly address religion, freedom of religion, particularly Islam, and the position of Islam in Western democracy. Debates on integration are often placed unjustifiably in the context of religion. The documentary addresses all these changes but aims at polarizing and dividing non-Muslims from Muslims, by stereotyping the beliefs of Dutch Muslims with the ideology of a small group of extremists. Fortunately, Dutch Muslims and Muslim organizations have reacted calmly and with dignity at the film and have openly rejected any form of violent reaction to this film. The Dutch Muslim organizations have also played a crucial role in explaining the situation in the Muslim world abroad; have defended freedom of expression, which is one of the fundamental rights, and discouraged Muslim Governments from boycotting the Netherlands. The Netherlands will continue to address this problem in cooperation with Muslims living in the Netherlands. As the Prime Minister stated, the public prosecutor is currently investigating possible criminal offences as concerns the film. 56. On the issue of cybercrime and discrimination on the Internet, the Netherlands shared concerns about dissemination of racial and discriminatory material and continues its efforts to tackle online discrimination and to increase funding of the Complaints Bureau for Discrimination on the Internet (MDI) for 2007. The National Cybercrime Reporting Centre targets extremist utterances by responding to the public and monitors the Internet. The State Secretary for Justice is of the view that an international approach is needed to combat racism on the Internet. New measures have been announced in December. 57. On issues relating to integration, the Netherlands have already been and are in the process of developing approaches to integration. The underlying concept is that the increasing diversity in Dutch society is a positive development but with strings attached. This means that people must respect freedom of religion, freedom of expression and equality of men and women. Criminal behaviour and discrimination against those of different beliefs, gender or sexual orientation or against those who have a different lifestyle will not be tolerated. The State Secretary of Justice said that integration is a two-way process, in which all citizens are expected to participate, with expectations of the receiving society. 58. Regarding questions about ethnic barriers in education, the Netherlands referred to its national report which states that it is keen to ensure that children attending segregated schools come into contact with each other. Since 2006, agreements have been reached at the municipal level and schools have to report on what they are doing to counter segregation. Both local authorities and schools can turn to the Expertise Centre on Multi-ethnic Schools, which was set up in 2006. The Education Inspectorate also ensures that schools are making an adequate contribution. Pilot projects will be launched in 2008 to see what is being done to tackle this problem. Segregation in school is also about segregation in housing, which is one of the major concerns of the moment. 59. The State Secretary of Justice shared concerns at the existence of domestic violence and its effects on society and individuals. She admitted that it affects women disproportionately, and that in most cases, it is inflicted by their intimate partners or ex-partners or family members. Men are also

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents