Iedereen zou dit boek moeten lezen

Thank goodness for the humour running through this book, otherwise it would be quite unmanageable. The endless years of waiting that asylum seeks have (had?) to go through in the Netherlands is enough to drive them mad, and it would make for very depressing reading if it wasn't for the humour. As it is, it is still deeply depressing in parts. When I first came to the Netherlands I learnt that the foreigners' police sometimes really don't like foreigners (so why do they choose that job?); I was reminded of the one who refused to speak English to me, despite the fact that I'd only been here a few months. And they invent their own rules (I had to renew my resident's permit every few months even though I legally didn't even need to have one as an EU citizen). But what Al Galidi describes is an order of magnitude worse. The refugees are denied even simple rights like basic medical care, and they are treated like criminals. This is a book that every Dutch citizen with a vote should read, and be happy for the humour to get them through it.