The 11 victims of the fire of 27 October that gutted the detention centre of Schipol airport, between Amsterdam and The Hague, in which clandestine immigrants awaiting expulsion and drug couriers were being held, were commemorated in an official ceremony held on 9 November. Many public authorities were present, including the Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner and the Foreign Minister Rita Verdonk and representatives of the security forces and diplomatic corps. Despite what had been promised, the names of the victims were made known during the ceremony; two were women. The releasing of their names aroused the protests of the churches and of the refugee organizations, which had asked that the anonymity of the victims be respected. They also harshly criticized the authorities for refusing to allow the survivors of the disaster to attend the ceremony. The Catholic Church called for a minute’s silence in commemoration coinciding with the beginning of the service. The president of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Adrianus Simonis, used the occasion to express strong criticisms of Dutch policy on asylum, devoid he said of humanity and compassion. He also proposed a “creative” solution to prevent the expulsion of over 20,000 people who have requested asylum in Holland since 2001, given that they are people who have long lived in the Netherlands and have even given birth to children in the country.
