On 17 January 2019, the journalist Ans Boersma, Turkey correspondent for the Dutch financial paper Het Financieele Dagblad, was deported from Istanbul and sent back to Amsterdam. Ms Boersma was apprehended by Turkish police a day before following her visit to the migration office to renew her residence permit as a foreign correspondent. Just nine days before her arrest, she received her accreditation and press card from the Turkish authorities for the year 2019. Ruling out the possibility of a misunderstanding or administrative issue, the police told the journalist that  she formed a risk to Turkey’s national security without any further…

The Dutch union of journalists Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten (NVJ, an EFJ affiliate) and its photojournalist section the NVF announced on 09/01/2019 that they will be going on strike in protest at the erosion of rates of pay. The NVJ/NVF has written to six prominent Dutch media companies calling for talks before January 11th – with strike action set to go ahead on January 25th if talks are unsuccessful. Already over 200 photojournalists have pledged their support for the action. A national monitor of freelance rates shows they fell from €80 a photo in 2014 to an average rate today of €42…

On  28th November, the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) agreed on a “working conditions policy plan” aiming to adapt the rates of freelance journalists in line with the employed journalists. NVJ is negotiating with the publishers to guarantee  4 to 4,5 % salary increase to the publishers association. The NVJ has chosen a comprehensive approach in the negotiations with the publishers to guarantee better rights for both employees and freelancers. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this decision in times when more and more freelance journalists suffer precarious working conditions throughout Europe. The plan is part of a broader…

Conference organised by the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam (UVA), in the framework of the “Audit of freedom of expression in the Netherlands”. This conference will be the closing event of the project, Audit of freedom of expression in the Netherlands. The project and conference centrally concern the need to ensure the effective implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors, with a particular focus on the Netherlands. A main aim of the project and conference is…

A van was intentionally crashed into the office building of one of the largest Dutch daily newspapers De Telegraaf located in Amsterdam, at early hours of Tuesday morning, 26 June. Nobody was hurt during the crash, Dutch police stated in a tweet. It is not the first incident of this nature, as last Thursday, 21 of June, a man was arrested after an incident in the Sloterdijk area of Amsterdam, where a man fired an anti-tank weapon into a building of media organisations. The Dutch media organisations has been under threat from organised crime for some time now, with two…

The European and International Federations of Journalists, IFJ and EFJ, together with their affiliate the Dutch Journalists Association (NVJ), have called for the immediate release of a Dutch journalist who faces a 20-month jail sentence. Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein was detained and arrested upon arriving at Panama’s Tocumen International Airport on 15 November. He is facing a 20-month sentence for libel and slander in relation to articles he posted on his blog about the alleged dubious business activities of a Canadian citizen, Monte Friesner, in Panama. The unions claim the libel and slander claims are baseless. The substantive aspects of the case…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) today backed their affiliate, the Nederlandse Vereniging Van Journalisten (NVJ), in condemning the killing of a Dutch photojournalist while covering clashes in the Libyan city of Sirte. On 2 October, Dutch journalist Jeroen Oerlemans (45) was killed by sniper fire as government forces battled Islamic State group holdouts in the coastal city of Sirte, a jihadist stronghold 450 kilometers east of the capital Tripoli, media reported. Forces allied with Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord are trying to take the city back from jihadists in an offensive that started in May and which…

Click here for more details (NL) 3 May #WPFD2016 by NVJ (EFJ affiliate in the Netherlands) Debate on working conditions of camerapersons & press photographers in Turkey   

According the NVJ (Dutch Journalists Association, EFJ-IFJ affiliate), Frederike Geerdink, a Dutch correspondent based in Diyarbakir (Turkey), has today (10/09/2015) been deported by the Turkish authorities to Amsterdam after being detained two days for reporting on a Kurdish group protesting clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and the Turkish military. The Turkish authorities are accusing the Dutch reporter of “hindering a military operation and supporting a terrorist organisation”. Frederike Geerdink lived Turkey since 2006 and has been based in Diyarbakir since 2012 where she writes about Turkish and Kurdish matters for Dutch and international media as well as a critical…

UPDATE (09/09/2015) : Dutch journalist likely to be deported from Turkey The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink. She was arrested early Sunday, at around 2 am, near the city of Yüksekova (Hakkari province, southeastern Turkey), while covering an activists group of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a Kurdish opposition organisation. Geerdink was following a “human shield group” of 32 people when she was detained, with all the members of the group. The police told them they were in a restricted area. The arrest comes just a week after two journalists for Vice News,…

A workshop on atypical workers organised by the International Federation of Actors (FIA) in cooperation with the Dutch actors’ union (FNV KIEM) within the joint project with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), International Federation of Musicians (FIM) and UNI-MEI took place in Amsterdam on 20 May. The participants, union leaders from the creative and media sector, discussed the impact of the changing landscape for workers and the impact on their working conditions and union services across the European Union. Yvonne Dankfurt from the EFJ affiliate in the Netherlands(Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten – NVJ), outlined the programmes offered by NVJ…

Update Frederike Geerdink was acquitted by the court in Diyarbakir, Turkey on 13 April. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) have welcomed the acquittal of Geerdink. #beraat! #acquittal! — Frederike Geerdink (@fgeerdink) April 13, 2015   Dutch journalist to be acquitted of terrorist charges in Turkey (8 April 2015 ) Frederike Geerdink, a Dutch freelance journalist and correspondent based in Turkey could finally clear the terrorism charges  following today’s trial in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Arriving at the High Criminal Court in Diyarbakir this morning with a positive outlook, Geerdink said that she is confident…

Frederike Geerdink, freelance journalist and correspondent in Turkey, is to appear before the court in Diyarbakir, Turkey on Wednesday 8 April. Early January, Geerdink was arrested and held for a short time. According to the authorities in Turkey, Geerdink is accused of spreading propaganda for the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey. The Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned the arrest and prosecution of Geerdink saying that the charge against Geerdink is in violation of international law and treaties ratified by the Turkish government on freedom of…

The  European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliate in the Netherlands, the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), found the arrest and prosecution of the Dutch journalist Mehmet Ülger most alarming and violating press freedom as provided in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Dutch freelance journalist Mehmet Ülger was detained at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on the morning of January 7 while trying to leave Turkey. Ülger was later released and allowed to leave Turkey, but he must attend  a court hearing on January 21. Ülger was told that he had been held in connection to…

One day after the anti-terror police interrogation imposed to journalist Fréderike Geerdink for some messages sent on Twitter, another Dutch journalist has been arrested today (07/01/2015) and will have to answer question for a picture taken in 2013 with a smartphone during a press trial. The Dutch-Turkish journalist Mehmet Ülgur has been arrested today at the airport in Istanbul (Turkey). The NVJ (Dutch Association of Journalists) has immediately reacted and informed the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs about this new case. “Mr Koenders (Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs) is still in Turkey. Maybe that can make a difference”, hopes the…