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11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

Crackdown on truants put on hold

24 June 2008 - A high-profile campaign against truancy in de Baarsjes has been put on hold. District chairman Arco Verburg (photo) backed down after a majority of the council openly criticised the approach.

In a joint action of police and school attendance officers, under-23s were asked what they were doing on the street. Truants were brought to school in a van. If young people said they had a job, the police called their employer to verify this.

In an open letter, all local parties but Verburg's own PvdA said that a call from the police to the employer might hurt the career of the young people involved. They called on Verburg to immediately stop the campaign.

In a response, Verburg says that the administration 'understands' the concerns of the council members. He says that the campaign will be put on hold, 'partly in view of the ending of the school year', until the matter will be discussed in a council meeting in September.

Verburg's decision is a setback for city alderman Lodewijk Asscher, who embraced the approach despite criticism from the city council.

See also: De Baarsjes must stop harassing youth. Photo de Baarsjes

UPDATE 30 June 2008 - De Baarsjes district informs that the actions have not been put on hold, but that no new actions have been planned for the near future.

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