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Netherlands
Build a house for an elderly person, and help everyone. There is a great need for senior housing, the government says. Due to the aging population and the healthcare crisis, there must be 288,000 houses in which seniors can live comfortably, preferably together. This also helps against the housing shortage, because when an elderly person moves, a large house often becomes available, which leads to a series of moves. Yet municipalities hardly allow any additional senior housing to be built. The construction of senior courtyards, care homes and houses without stairs is even worse than normal housing construction. How is that possible?
Elke (22) has been looking for a suitable job for years, but due to her autism and mental problems she keeps dropping out. Ultimately, she applies to the UWV for a Wajong benefit, a benefit for young people without the ability to work. You only get this if you can never work again. But how do you prove that when you are still so young? And can UWV doctors make such a prediction? Feline (37) can also hardly work due to various conditions. Yet she does not receive Wajong benefits. She has been on social assistance for years, including all the strict rules. Shouldn't we help young people with disabilities better? And what does politics do for this group?
The strengthening of the houses in the Groningen earthquake area is difficult. The reinforcement advice of the National Coordinator Groningen, which states whether or not a house should be reinforced, raises questions. Pointer receives dozens of tips from residents who say there are errors in the reinforcement reports they receive about their own home. Sometimes the drawings are incorrectly measured or are incorrect. Also, the advice is often not well-founded and cannot be checked because the calculations are missing. Can residents still trust that they live in a safe house?
All Dutch people live an average of eight months shorter due to bad air. And in some places the damage is even greater, such as in the west of Rotterdam. Highways, industry, an airport, shipping, animal husbandry and wood burning come together. However the wind is, you breathe in pollution. Citizens have therefore started their own measuring installations. With titles such as De Neuzen van Vlaardingen, they check the status in their own backyard. Residents see that air pollution sometimes goes far above the limit. They are proven right by scientists and even the measurement services. But what can you do then?
We dive into the war past of the KRO. What happened to the Jewish musicians who disappeared from the broadcaster's orchestras long before the war? Did their Jewish origins play a role in the dismissal? A reconstruction based on hundreds of previously undisclosed archive documents, the criminal files of the KRO leadership and conversations with surviving relatives of Jewish KRO musicians of the time.
Across the Netherlands you can see that the quality of life in neighborhoods with a lot of social rent is deteriorating further. Due to the allocation policy of social rental housing, status holders and people with, for example, psychological problems, addiction problems or debts are all placed together in one neighborhood. This creates an accumulation of problems in these neighborhoods. This increases the nuisance and you see neglect of public space. This is also the case in the Geitenkamp district in Arnhem. In recent years, many shops and facilities have also disappeared here, as a result of which residents are now resisting.
By 2030 there must be three times as much organic farming. According to experts, leasing land to organic farmers is an important tool, because a third of all agricultural land is lease land. Why does the government as a big leaseholder often opt for the highest bidder? This also happens to organic farmer Pieter Boons. For years he leases a piece of land that he cares for with great love, but then the province of Noord-Brabant no longer renews its temporary lease. He loses the land to a farmer who offers more money, but is not organic. Does the government use their lease land to make it more sustainable or more like dairy cow?
One of the most deadly mental illnesses, anorexia, strikes at a young age. There is a noticeable increase in girls from even ten years old. They can hardly go to a clinic. The municipality should provide help for the family, but that does not always happen either. Because if your own municipality has not arranged the care properly, then you are out of luck. Parents sound the alarm. Why does it depend on where you live whether you receive this particularly crucial care?
Sanne, Wim Hertgers' daughter, was murdered by her ex-partner. For years, she lived in a marriage where intimate terror was prevalent, a form of domestic violence in which the victim is controlled and manipulated by the partner. Now Wim travels the country with a truck full of photos of other women who have been victims of femicide, to warn women and point out the signs of unhealthy relationships. Ten percent of women are confronted with domestic violence. But they often do not know where to find help. How is that possible? And what needs to be done to improve the help for victims?
We investigate the working methods of the Netherlands' most famous conductor: Jaap van Zweden. A 'pattern of fear' emerges from dozens of conversations with musicians. We speak to orchestra members and people from the orchestra's staff, compare their stories and ask experts whether this is unacceptable behaviour. How serious is it? Musicians talk about calling in sick to get out of his way, about using medication and about years of stress. Why did no one intervene for all those years? And, could it be done differently?
For years, residents of Groningen have been living in uncertainty. Their homes are damaged and the promised reinforcement of their homes is not forthcoming. They often receive piles of research reports from the National Coordinator Groningen about the state of their homes, but these are not always complete or contain errors. And in the homes that are finally reinforced, several residents are left with construction errors and defects in their homes. How can things go so wrong in Groningen? We investigate this together with the residents themselves, construction experts, politicians and lawyers.
In the war in Ukraine, Russia uses a special weapon: Dutch people crossing the border. Ordinary citizens who are done with Europe, cross over to Russia and spread stories from there that the Kremlin likes to see. One of them is the Dutch Sonja van den Ende. She moved from Twente to Moscow and now appears on Russian television with anti-Western stories. Her articles also appear in Dutch alternative media, often with disinformation. Like her, dozens of Westerners are spreading pro-Russian stories in Europe. Why do they do this? And to what extent do their stories already have an effect on politics?
Lotte (46) opted for breast augmentation with silicone implants over twenty years ago. For several years, she has been struggling with fatigue, joint pain, and difficulty concentrating. That's why Lotte is having her implants removed. Would her symptoms disappear then? Many thousands of women have gone before Lotte. Why is a growing number of women having their breast implants removed? The Clara Wichmann Agency will soon be filing a claim for damages on behalf of 60,000 women due to the health risks allegedly posed by breast implants manufactured by Allergan. How safe are breast implants, really?
General practitioner Evelien van Soldt and her husband Rieuwert de Haan from Wapserveen are protesting against the use of pesticides in lily cultivation. They are deeply concerned about the health of local residents. The protests against the pesticides are causing significant tensions in their village. Van Soldt: "Because the municipality lacks a policy, residents are at odds with each other, and the threats are increasing. Many people are therefore afraid to voice their concerns." The use of pesticides is increasing polarization in more and more towns. How are municipalities addressing this?
Imagine: someone follows you around town, secretly filming your face, buttocks, and breasts, and sharing the images worldwide. These are creepshots: surreptitious, sexually explicit photos and videos of unsuspecting women. They are widely distributed and commented on in closed online groups by other creepshot takers. The research program infiltrates these secret networks, discovers Dutch victims, and exposes a global ecosystem. And, together with a specialized law firm, fights to remove victims of this intimidating and criminal abuse from the internet.
How is it possible that during this housing shortage, tens of thousands of buildings remain vacant and dilapidated for extended periods? Pointer takes a bizarre tour of empty churches, offices, shopping streets, and homes, some of which have been vacant for over twenty years. Frustrated property owners explain how rigid regulations have led us to this impasse. But the government is blaming the owners and wants fines for vacant buildings. Will that help? Or would we benefit more from the new generation of squatters? Or from 84-year-old Grandpa Kees from Gouda, who is converting empty buildings into homes himself. Will he help us out of this predicament?
A dangerous fungus claims several hundred lives in the Netherlands every year. The Health Council considers this a serious threat to public health and believes the government must intervene.
Torn open garbage bags, used diapers, or a lost refrigerator: major Dutch cities spend millions cleaning up trash dumped next to a container. And residents say it's getting worse. What will solve the problem? More fines and camera surveillance, or education and more frequent collection? And where does the responsibility actually lie? With the resident or the municipality?
150,000 Syrians live in our country, having fled Assad's bloody regime. But are they safe in the Netherlands? Or are Assad's supporters also lurking here? We are gaining unique access to tens of thousands of previously undisclosed documents from Syrian intelligence agencies. The documents also provide new insights into the death of Syrian activist Mazen Al-Hamada. He fled Syria to Hillegom in 2014 to escape the torture practices of the Assad regime. Six years later, he unexpectedly returned to Syria under mysterious circumstances, where he was immediately arrested and killed.
More than 60,000 Dutch people live in holiday homes, sometimes beautifully hidden in nature. Some are forced to do so, because the housing shortage leaves them nowhere else to go. Living like this is prohibited, so residents face inspections. Inspectors peer through windows and issue fines, while residents hide behind their sofas and become even more stressed. This has to stop, says the national government. Minister Mona Keijzer wants to grant residents ten years' permission to stay. But municipalities are resisting, and that's putting residents in a difficult position. Who should they listen to? And why are municipalities so fiercely opposed?
