The city government of the Dutch city of Amsterdam is expanding it "Slum Village" program beginning in 2013. The $1.3 million program will be for housing antisocial tenants that exhibit extremely violent and intimidating behavior towards their neighbors.
The program that houses these highly antisocial tenants got the name “slum villages” because of its similarity to the idea that came from the far right populist Geert Wilders the leader of the Party of Freedom, the fourth largest political party in the Netherlands. Wilders said last year “Repeat offenders should be forcibly removed from their neighbourhood and sent to a village for scum. Put all the trash together.”
The scheme of the program is that it would relocate and house families that repeatedly cause distress and disruption in their neighborhoods, putting them in container housing supervised by public officials and police for a period of three to six months. The containers would have only the basic amenities such as a shower and a kitchen. Families that refuse to go to the special units set up for abtisocial families would face eviction and homelessness.
The city has already appointed a team of district “harrassment officers” that would be employed to spot problems and gather reports of nuisance tenants. The project is also setting up a special hotline and system for victims could call in and report problem families to the authorities.
The city mayor, Eberhard van der Laan says that his policy is to protect the victims of abuse and homophobia from harassment. He pointed out the program was in response to the 13,000 complaints of antisocial behavior the city receives every year.
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Spokesman for the mayor, Bartho Boer, says that the term “Scum Village” is incorrect, the living containers were rather scum housess and would be scattered throughout the city rather than be all in one area. Boer said that the administration has learned from past mistakes and that they are not planning on housing the antisocial together in one area.
The country already has the program in place and in operation. Amsterdam already has 10 units already set aside for the purpose. The tenants are under 24 hour supervision by police and social workers.
The Netherlands are not newcomers to the idea of exiling their troublemakers, in the 19th century, the troublemakers were made to live in the special villages out side of Amsterdam. Those areas quickly became ghettos.