Joma now ‘homeless’ in the Netherlands

Homeless in Holland.

This is the situation self-exiled communist leader Jose Ma. Sison may soon find himself in after he was told by Dutch authorities to immediately vacate his government-funded apartment in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

A situationer by the human rights group Karapatan detailed a purported plot to make Sison’s life "financially and materially unbearable," and said the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was told last Sept. 10 by the municipal government of Utrecht to "no longer make use of the apartment on Rooseveltlaan 778."

Sison has been living on Rooseveltlaan for the past 14 years together with his wife, Julie de Lima, and son, Jasm, as he seeks asylum in the Netherlands as a "political refugee."

Aside from the eviction order, Dutch authorities told Sison that he will "no longer receive allowance for personal expenses" and that he was "no longer insured against illness and the financial consequences of legal liability."

A crackdown on Sison’s bank accounts and assets has been launched in the Netherlands following a declaration last Aug. 9 by Washington that the CPP, together with its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA), is a "foreign terrorist organization."

The White House further demanded other foreign governments, particularly in Europe, to freeze suspected CPP-NPA assets.

But mainstream Filipino communist leaders, both those living in Europe and the Philippines, protested the "terrorist" tag accorded to them by the Bush administration, as they insisted that theirs is a "revolutionary movement."

As Sison was told to leave his apartment in Utrecht, Dutch authorities told the Filipino rebel leader they "still have no solution for the accommodation of the members of (your) family."

Utrecht’s local officials further said that Sison could "challenge" the eviction order and the cancellation of his social benefits as a political asylum seeker before the Netherlands’ Minister of Finance on "humanitarian grounds."

But Sison in a statement said this would be like "begging for mercy."

"If I were to ‘beg’ for the basic necessities of life on ‘humanitarian grounds’, will I not be moving into the trap of accepting the unjust premises and terms of the said ‘sanctions ruling’?" he said.

"Are not the Dutch authorities violating my rights as a recognized political refugee by trying to deprive me of the basic necessities of life, humiliating and degrading me by compelling me to beg for these?"

Aside from this, Sison claimed that he is being "demonized" before the Dutch media by "conservatives" and alleged right-wing elements in the Netherlands.

A TV news show allegedly stated that Sison’s "hands are stained with blood."

Sooner or later, the Karapatan situationer said, Sison may be extradited to the US by way of reopening the murder case of US serviceman, Col. James Rowe. –With Artemio Dumlao, Sandy Araneta