Students are still travelling to Utrecht to demonstrate
Student union Asva, together with other student organisations, is travelling to Utrecht today to demonstrate against the cuts in higher education. The mayor of Utrecht, Sharon Dijksma, calls on protesters not to come.
The Asva, together with other student organisations from Rotterdam and Utrecht, among others, will still go to Utrecht this afternoon to demonstrate against the cuts in higher education. The protest was initially cancelled yesterday, due to alleged signs of “hijacking” the demonstration.
According to Teun Otte, president of the Asva, there were talks between the student organisations and the municipality. “The conclusion was that that the municipality of Utrecht is facilitating the demonstration.” Until now, the municipality of Utrecht cannot be reached to confirm or deny this. According to U-Today, the medium of the University of Twente, Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma calls on protesters to stay away, but does not ban the protest. “We are very concerned about the sentiment that may arise if groups do come to demonstrate today.”
Utrecht University is also urging its staff and students not to attend the protest in Utrecht “to ensure everyone’s safety”.
Isn’t the Asva worried about the threat Utrecht Mayor Dijksma was talking about? “It is not clear to us where exactly that threat would come from,” says Otte. “We searched for a long time, but we couldn’t find any concrete details about it.” The students are deploying stewards, a kind of order service, to ensure that the organisation runs smoothly.
Political organisations such as ROOD, the SP’s youth party, and the Socialists, are also calling for people to travel to Utrecht anyway. They say they “stand firmly for the right to demonstrate”.
The coalition that organised the demonstration, including action group WOinAction and the trade union AOb, are not travelling to Utrecht today. “We are not calling to go to Utrecht, but there is no official ban, so students can go there and we hope it goes well,” said Rens Bod initiator of WOinAction.
At the UvA, there is still no compulsory attendance today.
Walkouts
The speeches originally scheduled to take place on the Domplein have been moved to the House of Representatives. Some eighty people from the coalition will be present there, including Peter-Paul Verbeek, rector magnificus of the UvA. Speeches will take place from 13:30, which can be followed via a livestream. Philosopher Ingrid Robeyns (UU) and Casper van den Berg (UNL) will speak there, among others.
Universities are organising local walkouts. At the UvA, a walkout will take place at 13:00 starting from the entrance of the ABC building on Roeterseiland campus. In the hall of the ABC will also been joint viewing of the livestream in the House of Representatives.
Malieveld
Meanwhile, WOinAction is working with the unions on a plan for a new demonstration. That will probably take place on 25 or 26 November, before the education budget is discussed. “That demonstration will probably be even bigger,” Bod says about it. “Yesterday our mobilisation WhatsApp groups exploded, people are so angry that the demonstration in Utrecht has been cancelled. Of course we are disappointed after yesterday, but we are going into the next demonstration with renewed energy.”
There is less chance that that demonstration will be cancelled again, due to safety concerns, Bod said. “The Malieveld fits 40,000 people, you don’t have to deal with narrow streets like in Utrecht, so safety can be better guaranteed there.”
