{"id":21117,"date":"2026-05-28T15:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=21117"},"modified":"2026-06-11T16:23:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T14:23:20","slug":"different-times-same-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/21117\/different-times-same-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Different Times, Same People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

People have always moved and migrated. No matter if it is in the Hanseatic period of Groningen or now. However, migration has become a more and more dividing topic in society, with one example being the current situation at the asylum seeker center Ter Apel. In recent months, anti-migration protests have coincided with rising numbers of people sleeping in front of the facility. The reasons for that are various but are connected through the search for a better future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is 3am in the morning. The group of volunteers has been waiting for people to arrive at the first registration and asylum seeker center (AZC) Ter Apel, after the last emergency transport buses and the Rode Kruis have already left. On some days it has been storming and raining, while repeatedly people are forced to sleep in front of the center. That is how the organization MiGreat has been describing the situation and their current regular workday on social media to the public. For months now the AZC Ter Apel has been overfilled. According to the municipality Westerwolde, the facility has been exceeding its limit of 2000 people already since December 2025. The situation has become a reminder of a never-ending discussion, questioning what the way of coping with migration reflects about the current societal climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Donation container of the Rode Kruis. Picture taken by Mai Ly Spranger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the past, wealth imbalances, work or religion have driven people to move. In the 1600s that meant trading and people traveling from Germany to the Netherlands. Although that is still one of the strongest migration routes, in a globalized world, distances have grown further. When asking historian and migration geographer Meindert Schroor about how people were received compared to today, he mentioned that it of course looked different, racism based on appearance was less of a factor, but discrimination based on social and economic status was already present back then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meindert Schroor in front of his library in Leeuwarden. Picture taken by Mai Ly Spranger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meindert Schroor has a very clear view on what can be said about migration now versus then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n