By Sarah Collins - 14th February 2008
European Socialists have urged the EU to take over the protection of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch MP and outspoken critic of Islam.
Hirsi Ali, a Dutch citizen who has been the victim of several death threats, was in Brussels Thursday to raise support for a declaration on her protection, issued by the Socialists last December and signed by around 100 MEPs so far.
“The European responsibility if one of its member states doesn’t act is to take charge of the protection of that person,” said French Socialist MEP Benoît Hamon.
The Socialists are trying to raise support for a pilot project, possible under the parliament’s budget for its own activities, which would administer the funding for Hirsi Ali.
According to Hamon, the parliament has at its disposal around €50m for such own-initiated projects, provided they get all-party support.
Hirsi Ali, a Somalia-born former Muslim, has also been offered protection by France, which will lobby for the creation of an EU-wide fund to help victims of terrorism.
“The issue is not about borders, it’s a matter of life or death,” she told an audience at the European parliament. “The Dutch government has dropped its responsibility.”
Hirsi Ali was forced to leave the Netherlands for the US in 2006 after several years speaking out and writing about the plight of Muslim immigrants in Europe.
The Dutch government had been paying for her protection since 2002 because of what she calls “deadly” threats to her life, until they withdrew it in 2007 when they failed to get the US to take over the responsibility for payment.
“Today I find myself in an embarrassing situation where I have to ask for help,” said Hirsi Ali. “Threats to my life have not subsided, they have only increased and the cost is more than I can manage.”
The Socialists will now ask parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering to send the declaration to national parliaments, the council and the commission.
Hamon, who hopes to be able to help Hirsi Ali “from tomorrow”, said: “I hope we don’t have to wait for the French presidency but that the Slovenian presidency will act.”
He added: “The case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali is now a European matter.”
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