A BLOODY SHAME ………..
STAY WHERE YOU ARE. THE NETHERLANDS ARE FULL!

The message of the Dutch Government: If you are considering coming to the Netherlands, it is better not to come! You as Indo Dutch will and can never make it in the Netherlands. Most of you don\’t have that persistence. These new Dutchmen never learned and were not used to rolling up their sleeves. There are also no real livelihood possibilities for them in the Netherlands.

The above vision indicates how the government then thought about the Indo-Dutch people who when they were still in the former Dutch East Indies.
Legally they were just Dutch, but not welcome in the Netherlands.
The government has actually tried and attempted to implement the above.

Among other things, by refusing or delaying a government advance for the crossing of returnees. Quotas for issuing visas for regret-opters have also been hugely delayed.
An involved minister, who was partly responsible for the Overseas Kingdom Sections and who was known to have little knowledge of Indo Dutch affairs, proclaimed that it was more sensible for the Indo Dutch to choose Indonesian citizenship.

Moreover, he saw problems with the adaptation of the Indos within the labor market in the Netherlands, because they cannot cope with the Dutch work rate anyway.
The government maintained its position that the Indo Dutch should remain in Indonesia.
Prime Minister Drees took the position that the Indo Dutch were not eligible for a government advance on travel expenses.

However, the same Dutch government could not stop the Indo Dutch, who sold all their possessions and thus could pay for their trip themselves. They were also Dutch. However, these people, too, to counteract them. Upon arrival in the Netherlands, these people received a lower level care arrangement.
In addition to the deteriorated conditions for the Indo Dutch, the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands did not improve either.

In the Netherlands people began to realize that the situation in Indonesia was such that they were obliged to help the Indo Dutch. The relaxation of the policy was not supported by the entire cabinet. Especially Messrs Suurhof and Drees have opposed this.

After all kinds of restrictions had been lifted, every Dutch person in Indonesia could claim financial assistance if they wished to go to the Netherlands. ”This form of assistance was based on an advance payment system in which those involved were expected to pay (part of) after their arrival in the Netherlands. ) would pay back these costs. From 1960 onwards people traveled more and more by air until in 1964 all migrations by boat were completely replaced by migration by air. \”

Soon after arrival in the Netherlands, and sometimes halfway through the boat trip to Europe, clothing and footwear was provided with which one was better protected against the colder climate. Only in the periods of accelerated repatriation – around 1950 and 1958 – and when people came by plane, were the Red Cross called in to distribute blankets to the arrived migrants who did not yet have access to warmer clothing.

This distribution of clothing on arrival was free of charge, except in cases where migrants had wealth or sufficient savings. Regular income was not taken into account. So almost everyone had a one-time right to warmer clothing for a period of one year. If the clothing was not delivered on board, warmer clothing could be purchased after arrival at a number of shops designated by the government – at a later stage in the central reception centers in Zutphen and Bennekom.

However, this was done on the basis of a modest budget and the new equipment did not have to be too choosy.
When they arrived in the Netherlands, if they did not (yet) have their own accommodation, they were generally divided among the contract pensions available since 1950, pending definitive accommodation.

Before 1950, shelters also existed, but they were used solely for the purpose of passive shelter. In particular, many evacuees and people on recovery leave in the Netherlands made use of this shelter.
In the contract boarding houses, the boarding houses undertook to provide the persons placed in boarding houses by the government with shelter, food and full care for a certain period of time. The government undertakes to pay a certain amount per person to the pensioners for this complete care.

From survey data that accompanying civil servants (so-called board civil servants) collected on the ships on their way to the Netherlands, the government was able to determine, among other things, how great the need for housing in contract guesthouses would be.

In April 1951 a number of 632 contract guesthouses were registered with 17,234 guests. This was the highest number of contract guesthouses and number of residents achieved during the more than twenty-year migration period. From 1950 to 1969, a total of 134,000 people stayed in contract guesthouses for shorter or longer periods. \’\’
Residents of contract pensions paid 60% of their net family income (excluding acquisition costs) as a contribution to the costs of housing and food. If no or very little income was earned, a modest pocket money could be paid out in the contract pension, which was not later recovered.

Returnees living in contract boarding houses were required to pay 60 percent of the net household income as a contribution to housing and food costs. Upon arrival, they signed a power of attorney authorizing agencies from which they received income to transfer the funds to the ministry, which withheld 60 percent of the income as \’due contribution\’ and passed on 40 percent to the beneficiary. All family members had to contribute to these costs, with the exception of school-age children who earned extra during the holidays.

Those who had little or no income were paid pocket money during their stay in the guesthouse. This pocket money did not have to be repaid – unlike the advance payments for the trip and clothing, which did have to be repaid.

Because most people had no more than some light summer clothes with them, the government initially provided clothing. “We were immediately taken to a large shed of the red cross. There were mountains of used clothing on the ground. We just had to pull out what we thought we could use. We always had to take clothes for the children too big: they had to be “growing”.

Later, people received clothing advances that allowed them to buy their own clothes in special stores. This advance also had to be repaid in full later
What many people are unaware of and what often baffles most is the fact that the returnees had to pay for everything themselves.
They received their weekly pocket money from the liaison officer, but what was not mentioned is that 60% of each salary was withheld for room and board. The clothing and furniture advances (if one had been allocated a house) also had to be repaid to the last cent. Many first-generation Indo Dutch had to hand over a fixed amount every month until their death. SHAME ON U KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS…

As always thank u Han for ur contribution writing stories like these.