Dutch province introduces draconian ID requirements to visit swimming pools due to rise in ‘foreign troublemakers’

 

An open-air swimming complex in the Netherlands has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of reported nuisances, primarily by young visitors of a migration background, after introducing strict measures restricting access.

 

The De Vliegende Vaart swimming pool in Terneuzen, located in the Zeeland province close to the Belgian border, felt compelled to introduce draconian ID requirements for visitors to the complex after longstanding issues with harassment of women and girls and other anti-social behavior.

 

“Fortunately I have not experienced it myself, but I know from acquaintances that their daughter has been harassed,” one visitor told De Telegraaf. “That’s horrible. As a girl, you are already vulnerable in swimwear, and if you are then groped by a group, it is very traumatizing.”

 

Tamara, a supervisor at one of the open-air pools in the area told the same newspaper that the majority of the problems came from large groups of young Moroccan Belgians who would cross the border to attend the complex due to the strict access requirements imposed by similar facilities in Belgium.

 

“If you address one of them about annoying behavior, 10 friends will immediately join them,” she said. “It’s terribly intimidating. They not only harass young girls but also mothers with children. And small children,” she added.

 

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Ronald Groothaert, the team leader of sports facilities within the Zeeland province who is responsible for the swimming pools, spoke of how young migrants would often evade ticket gates and enter the facilities where they would frequently fight, dump rubbish, and even defecate in bushes.

 

Security guards now patrol the swimming pools in Zeeland and request driver’s licenses and passports from prospective visitors. Some complexes have even resorted to membership requirements to ensure those entering the facility are properly identifiable, even though this often results in lower profits with foot traffic from tourists being turned away.

 

 

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