African Refugees Are Having a Hard Time Living in a Dutch Prison
A few weeks ago, I went to Amsterdam to visit a community of African refugees who live in a former prison called the Vluchthaven. The group calls themselves “We Are Here” and are considered illegal immigrants by the Dutch government. They’ve been very visible over the last two years for protesting the indifference that many politicians in Holland have shown towards immigrants and people seeking asylum from war-torn countries
Those who don’t live in the jail’s cells are holed up in a disused garage known as the Vluchtgarage, a cold concrete structure on the outskirts of the city. Now their situation is getting more desperate because the time period in which they’re allowed to stay here is coming to an end, and many of them will be on the street come Saturday.