Netherlands in turmoil

BERLIN, May 18 (UPI) -- The case of Somali-born Dutch lawmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has been stripped of her Dutch citizenship, is developing into a political storm that is shaking Netherlands democracy to the core and may bring about the resignation of the country's immigration minister.

On Monday, Rita Verdonk, the country's immigration minister, said she would strip Hirsi Ali of her citizenship after a Dutch news show last week exposed lies the emigre told when she sought political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992 and applied for Dutch citizenship five years later.

"The same rules apply for everybody," said Verdonk after her decision, also called "Iron Rita" for her tough stance on immigration.

Little did she know what sort of a storm she unleashed: After the move had been backed by most of the population on Monday, by Tuesday and Wednesday even the country's Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called her decision rushed. Lawmakers from all parties and cultural and social leaders all over Europe asked Verdonk to revoke it. For many, Hirsi Ali remains a heroine of human rights.

Since arriving in the Netherlands in 1992, she has been a fierce but controversial critic of Islamic fundamentalism; she has called on immigrants coming to Europe to assimilate or leave; and once worked with Dutch director Theo van Gogh on an incendiary short film called "Submission," which depicted the abuse of Muslim women.

The film angered radical Islamists so much that Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-born Muslim, in 2004 stabbed van Gogh to death. Bouyeri left behind a death threat addressed to Hirsi Ali pinned to the director's bloody chest.

Verdonk Wednesday agreed to reconsider her decision after she had nearly been forced to resign by the country's lawmakers, who after a 10-hour extraordinary session in parliament almost unanimously called on her to find a way to have Hirsi Ali keep her citizenship. The case has taken on additional heat as Verdonk and Hirsi Ali belong to the same party, the conservative VVD. Critics say Verdonk's move was politically motivated and intended to further her goal of becoming the VVD's top candidate for next year's elections.

The 36-year-old said she had long since admitted that she had lied when she entered the Netherlands: Giving a false name and a false birth date, she said she was fleeing the civil war in Somalia. In truth, Hirsi Ali admitted later, she fled from a forced marriage and came from Kenya.

"I have said many times that I am not proud that I lied when I sought asylum in the Netherlands. It was wrong to do so. I did it because I felt I had no choice," she said after Verdonk's decision.

"I was frightened that if I simply said I was fleeing a forced marriage, I would be sent back to my family. And I was frightened that if I gave my real name, my clan would hunt me down and find me," she said.

She had given authorities the name she still bears today, the name of her grandfather. Her real name was Ayaan Hirsi Magan, she said.

The TV report denounced even that story, shattering her credibility. Her family said in the report there had been no forced marriage; the report was a smear, Hirsi Ali replied.

She added that she had even informed the immigration minister via email of her actions when entering the country and seeking citizenship, and thus was surprised about the recent decision.

Verdonk said she could not remember being contacted, and that statement may prove fatal for her career if it is disproved.

The whole affair is shaking the traditionally humanist Netherlands to the core, and could have much worse implications for the democracy of the country. If Hirsi Ali was never Dutch then she could not have been lawfully elected as a lawmaker, bringing into question the legality of laws passed during her time in office.

Jit Peters, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Amsterdam, said the chances for success of such legal cases are "very slim."

He added, however, that Verdonk did not have to take away Hirsi Ali's passport, as there were legal options to use discretion, if needed.

"Mrs. Verdonk is a very stubborn lady," he told United Press International in a telephone interview. "She likes to set examples to prove that she is tough on immigration."

Earlier this year, Verdonk has drawn anger from Dutch soccer fans for not allowing a speedy naturalization of Nigerian-born soccer star Nwankwo Kanu, ruining his chances to play for the Netherlands in this year's FIFA Soccer World Cup. She also sent a teenager back to the Kosovo shortly before the girl was to get her high school degree.

As for Hirsi Ali, it may not have been necessary to revoke her citizenship after all. She already had made up her mind to leave the Netherlands, where she long had to give up a normal life, living with constant death threats and 24-hour protection by security agents.

"I have been obliged to move house so many times I have lost count," she said.

When she had finally found an apartment where she felt at ease, her neighbors, not radical Islamists, forced her out. A Dutch court last month ruled she must leave the apartment by the end of August, after her neighbors filed a complaint they could not feel safe living next to a woman who is getting death threats.

The Dutch government has appealed the verdict, but Hirsi Ali nevertheless has to move on.

"How on earth will other people whose lives are threatened manage to find a place to stay if this verdict is allowed to rest?" she asked.

Hirsi Ali will likely head for the United States, where she has been offered a position as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington-based public policy think tank.

In the United States, she will "continue to ask uncomfortable questions, despite the obvious resistance that they elicit," she said. "I will go on."