Today’s edition of De Telegraaf reports that two judges have tendered their resignation after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol. However, in the annual report of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Attorney General J W Fokkens writes that the two refused to step down until their cases were about to be submitted to the Supreme Court.
 

Mr Fokkens says it is vital to public confidence in the judiciary that action is taken when judges fail to meet professional standards or neglect their duties. In the Netherlands, judges are appointed for life and are difficult to dismiss. The president of the court must submit the case to the attorney general who then asks the Supreme Court to dismiss the judge in question.

The Court’s annual report shows Mr Fokkens twice instigated an investigation into allegations of partiality, but, he says: “In both cases I did not find evidence to support the allegations”.

In 2008, 52 complaints were filed against judges, compared to 39 in 2007 and 47 in 2006.

Yet another family drama  
Also in De Telegraaf, a photograph of police officers erecting a screen to block from sight the façade of a house in the town of Almere where a father killed his two children – seven and three years old - before taking his own life. Neighbours say the man was in financial problems after losing his job and was seeing a therapist.

This is already the third time this year that a father has decided to kill himself and take his family with him. Last month, a man killed his girl friend, his ex-wife and his two children before killing himself. In February a man in The Hague killed his five-year-old son and then committed suicide.

Migrant children do worse in school than their peers back home
De Volkskrant writes that the children of the first wave of migrant workers who arrived in Europe in the 1950s and '60s are doing worse in school than their peers in their countries of origin.

Educational Sociologists Jaap Dronkers and Manon de Heus who conducted research into the educational achievements of migrant children, say the reverse is true in the United States and Canada.

In an interview with de Volkskrant, Jaap Dronkers says: “The wait-and-see attitude of a society seeps through into its educational system. In many European countries, migrants are asked: Do you really belong here? This negative effect is not limited to children of migrant workers from Mediterranean countries. Children of French or German immigrants are also doing worse in school than their counterparts in France or Germany”.

“In countries such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand everybody is factually an immigrant. They have a much more open attitude towards newcomers. At the same time they impose restrictions: only people who stand a chance in the labour market are admitted. This means that those who do arrive are well-motivated”.

Jaap Dronkers and Manon de Heus will present their findings at the European University Institute in Florence later this week.

Amsterdam aid organisations want campsite for homeless people
Trouw reports that aid organisations working with homeless people will present a plan later this week in which they argue for the creation of a permanent campsite for a group of about 20 homeless people who choose to live on the streets.

The organisations say the situation in Amsterdam has improved substantially, and most homeless people have disappeared from the streets as a result of adequate shelter facilities. However, there is still no solution for the group of men and women who refuse any form of care or assistance.

Many of them have psychiatric problems, and quite a few are addicted to alcohol or drugs. Most of them are men of about 30 to 40 years old, but some are in their sixties and have lived on the streets for more than 20 years.

They refuse to abide by the rules of the shelters and even when offered a home refuse to accept it because they do not want to live in a ‘concrete box’. At present, they sleep in huts and tents in parks and forests just outside the city centre, but are often chased away by the police or local residents.

Netherlands qualify for 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa
Most of the front page of today’s edition of AD is taken up by a photograph of a group of orange-clad Dutch fans cheering and waving after the national team’s victory over Iceland in Reykjavik.

Saturday’s 2-1 victory means the Netherlands has already qualified for the World Cup, the first European country to do so. According to AD, the Orange team has never before qualified so convincingly for a major final round: no points dropped and 14-2 on aggregate.