Secrets of Amsterdam, the Truth - Chapter 1

Amsterdam has a high proportion of ethnic minoritiesAmsterdam TV Broadcasting Association for
compared with the rest of Europe, currently 45%. TheImmigrants (MTV). The Municipality has installed five
population register now contains over 150 differentadvisory bodies to assist it in its migrants' policy.The
nationalities. In ten years' time half the population will bepolicy on womenSupport for the emancipation of
of foreign origin.The City spends substantial sums towomen and of people who are subject to
prevent the formation of ghettos in boroughs with andiscrimination based on their sexual preferences is part
over-representation of ethnic minorities. A Socialof the city's policy. The city pursues a specific
Diversity Policy paper published in the summer of 1998emancipation policy and in 1995 installed the
will give new impetus to the City's minorities strategy. ItOmbudsman Service for Women to deal with
will deal with any groups who might suffer socialcomplaints relating to the legal and social position of
discrimination. Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution forbids'black, white and immigrant women' in Amster-dam.
discrimination on the grounds of a person's beliefs, raceAdresses of more than a hundred help, advice and
or sexual preferences. In 1996 the Municipality ofcontact organisations are included in the 'Yellow Pages
Amsterdam added its own code of conduct for localfor Women' (Gele Gids voor Vrouwen) published by
authority staff to this Article, plus a complaints schemethe Multicultural Emancipation Bureau.Jewish
and an anti-discrimination office. The ethnic compositionAmsterdamAmsterdam has had a Jewish quarter for
of the civil service in the city must reflect themore than 350 years. The district was de-populated
population of the city. The main ethnic minority groupsduring the German Occupation in World War
are Creoles and Hindustanis from Surinam (72,000),Two.Initially the quarter lay outside the city walls and
Moroccans (57,000), Turks (35,000) and immigrantswas inhabited mainly by Jews originating from Spain
from the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba (12,000).and Portugal, including the family of the philosopher
Amsterdam also contains around 26,000 Chinese, andBaruch Spinoza. Rembrandt felt at home in the
has its own 'Chinatown', situated in the Nieuwmarktcolourful Jewish environment, encountered wonderful
area. In 2000, the first Chinese Buddhist temple openedmodels there and had his house built in
on Zeedijk. There are also around 76,000 migrantsJodenbreestraat: Rembrandt's House. The 17th century
from other non-industrialised countries, such as Ghanaalso saw the start of an influx of Jews from Central
and Pakistan. The local Salto cable network transmitsand Eastern Europe to Amsterdam.
programmes made for and by immigrants on the