Monday, February 23, 2026

Students Gang Raped, Sexually Assaulted in Migrant ‘Integration’ Experiment.

PULSE POINTS

WHAT HAPPENED: Students living alongside asylum seekers at Stek Oost in the Netherlands reported years of sexual assaults, violence, and harassment, according to an investigation.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Students, migrants, local authorities, and Stadgenoot, the housing association managing Stek Oost.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Stek Oost in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; attacks reported from its opening in 2018 to present.

💬KEY QUOTE: “We were completely overwhelmed. We no longer wanted to be responsible for the safety of the complex.” – Mariëlle Foppen, Stadgenoot representative.

🎯IMPACT: Stek Oost is set to close by 2028, with reports of ongoing safety issues continuing to affect students and staff.

IN FULL

An investigation has found that Dutch students living at the Stek Oost housing complex in Amsterdam endured years of sexual assault, intimidation, and violence while sharing accommodation with migrants under a government-backed integration initiative. Stek Oost opened in 2018 with 125 students and 125 asylum seekers living side by side. The project promoted a “buddy” system intended to help migrants integrate into Dutch society.

Former residents told the investigative television program Zembla that instead of fostering safety and cooperation, the arrangement exposed students to repeated harassment, stalking, and violent and sexual crime.

One former resident, identified as Amanda, said she was raped in 2019 by a Syrian migrant after he invited her to his room to watch a movie. She reported the incident to police, but the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence. The same man was arrested in 2022 and later convicted of raping two residents of the complex. He received a short three-year prison sentence in 2024. Students also reported other violent incidents, including a case in which a man said he was threatened with an eight-inch kitchen knife by a migrant.

Residents said they repeatedly raised concerns with authorities but felt their complaints were not taken seriously. Police confirmed receiving seven reports of sexual assault connected to Stek Oost, though they claim they have no record of a reported gang rape mentioned by students interviewed for a documentary about the site.

Stadgenoot, the housing association managing the complex, sought to close Stek Oost as early as 2023, citing ongoing safety risks. Local authorities initially opposed shutting it down, but the project is now scheduled to end in 2028 when its contract expires. Stadgenoot representative Mariëlle Foppen described the strain on staff, saying, “We were completely overwhelmed. We no longer wanted to be responsible for the safety of the complex.”

The revelations have renewed debate over migrant integration failures, coming amid wider scrutiny of migrant-linked sexual violence across Europe. Recent criminal cases and official statistics in several European countries have highlighted the disproportionate involvement of recently arrived migrants in serious sexual offences. However, in some instances, populist politicians have faced penalties for publicly citing government crime data related to migrant rape statistics.

Image by cottonbro studio.

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BREAKING: Attempted Car Bombing at Same Square Where Ukrainian Stabbed Five.

A 50-year-old man has been arrested after apparently attempting a suicide car bombing in the Netherlands on Thursday morning. The unnamed suspect’s car burst into flames in Amsterdam’s Dam Square, where a Ukrainian from the partially Russian-controlled Donetsk region carried out a mass stabbing last Thursday.

Video footage from the scene shows the suspect emerging from his blazing vehicle, on fire, and rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames. Later video footage shows him shuffling around the square, still partly on fire, until law enforcement steps in and douses him with fire extinguishers.

Police say they “suspect that the driver caused the fire himself,” but a motive for the possible attack is unknown or undisclosed as of the time of publication. He is described as a Dutch national, although his ethnic and religious background is unclear.

The authorities report no injuries to bystanders are known, although some eyewitnesses describe glass flying “into our necks” when the car’s windows blew out.

Last week, a Ukrainian named Roman D. carried out a mass stabbing in the same square, wounding five people, including a 67-year-old American woman and a 69-year-old American man, before he was detained by bystanders, including a British tourist who pinned him down until police arrived.

The Ukrainian reportedly had bogus papers for multiple false identities, and an investigation into his possibly terroristic motives is ongoing.

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A 50-year-old man has been arrested after apparently attempting a suicide car bombing in the Netherlands on Thursday morning. The unnamed suspect's car burst into flames in Amsterdam's Dam Square, where a Ukrainian from the partially Russian-controlled Donetsk region carried out a mass stabbing last Thursday. show more

Amsterdam Aflame as Pro-Palestinian ‘Youths’ Riot.

A tram has been set on fire, and at least one man attacked in the streets, as pro-Palestinian “youths” have taken to the streets of Amsterdam in the Netherlands days after prior antisemitic violence.

Groups of masked people dressed in black descended on the Plein area on Monday, November 11, and began rioting and setting off fireworks. In one case, which was caught in video, a tram had its windows smashed and was set on fire. A man on a bicycle was also attacked in the area as the rioters chanted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans.

Local police say that the violence started at around 7:15 PM and that a large group of people took part in the violence. Several arrests were made, but it is unclear how many people were arrested.

The violence comes just days after antisemitic mobs carried out attacks on Jews and supporters of the Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club. At least 62 people were arrested following that violence, which caused at least five people to be injured and was described as a “pogrom” by Dutch anti-Islamist populist leader Geert Wilders.

Five more people were arrested in neighboring Belgium in the city of Antwerp on Sunday, November 10, as authorities discovered a social media group of men trying to organize further violence against Jews.

Messages on the social media platform Snapchat indicated that people in the group wanted to take “action” against Jews in Antwerp. Anyone seen in the city’s Jewish neighborhood wearing balaclavas or carrying Palestinian flags was preemptively arrested.

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A tram has been set on fire, and at least one man attacked in the streets, as pro-Palestinian "youths" have taken to the streets of Amsterdam in the Netherlands days after prior antisemitic violence. show more

Injuries and 62 Arrested After Antisemitic ‘Pogrom’ in Amsterdam.

Israel was forced to send aircraft to the Netherlands this week to rescue Israeli soccer fans who were attacked in the streets of Amsterdam, leading to five injuries and at least 62 arrests.

Videos have emerged on X and other social media platforms showing antisemitic mobs attacking supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club and chanting anti-Israeli slurs on Thursday, November 7.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema stated that police had to escort the Israeli soccer fans to their hotels. She added that they were targeted for violent attacks, including having fireworks launched at them.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his office sent five airplanes to Amsterdam to help the soccer fans get home.

Dick Schoof, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, who is part of a right-wing coalition with anti-Islamist Geert Wilders‘s party, said he was “horrified” by the scenes.

“This is completely unacceptable. I am in close contact with all parties involved and have just spoken to
[Prime Minister] Netanyahu by phone to stress that the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted,” he wrote on X.

Wilders, meanwhile, called the attacks a “pogrom,” saying, “We have become the Gaza of Europe. Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews. I will NOT accept that. NEVER.”

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Israel was forced to send aircraft to the Netherlands this week to rescue Israeli soccer fans who were attacked in the streets of Amsterdam, leading to five injuries and at least 62 arrests. show more

Study: Mass Migration Cost The Netherlands Nearly Half A Trillion Dollars Between 1995 and 2019.

Mass immigration has cost the Netherlands and Dutch taxpayers a staggering €400 billion ($430 billion) between 1995 and 2019, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, who had “access to unique, anonymized microdata from Statistics Netherlands.”

The study, entitledBorderless Welfare State: The Consequences of Immigration for Public Finances,” shows that migrants took €17 billion more out of the Dutch welfare state than they contributed on average every year for a quarter of a century.

The largest figure was €32 billion in 2016 as a result of Angela Merkel’s open-door migration policies. The money spent on migrants that year was more than what the Dutch government spent on the country’s entire education system.

The authors found that migrants from the Middle East and North Africa never achieve a positive fiscal contribution to the Dutch economy, with migrants receiving significantly more welfare than the native Dutch population. Only Asians offered a small net contribution.

Moroccan nationals were found to cost the Netherlands €260,000 per person over their lifetime, followed by Turkish nationals, who cost €200,000. Other African nationals cost an average €180,000.

Notably, they also suggested the universal claim that “it will all work out with the second generation” does not hold weight. Instead, if people are born into families were produce a negative net contribution, they are unlikely to make a positive one.

The nearly half a trillion euro costs “are mainly the result of redistribution through the welfare state,” the authors argue. “Government spending on immigrants is now above average for items such as education, social security and benefits.”

Migrants failing to make a positive net fiscal contribution is not limited to the Netherlands; on the contrary, Germany is set to spend €36 billion on migrants this year alone, with the French similarly expected to pay €25 billion.

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Mass immigration has cost the Netherlands and Dutch taxpayers a staggering €400 billion ($430 billion) between 1995 and 2019, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, who had "access to unique, anonymized microdata from Statistics Netherlands." show more

Editor’s Notes

Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.

RAHEEM J. KASSAM Editor-in-Chief
Yes, despite the obvious, the political class will gasp when Geert Wilders commands the largest number of votes, and when other European nations follow suit and elect populist-nationalist politicians who want to reduce migration to manageable levels
Yes, despite the obvious, the political class will gasp when Geert Wilders commands the largest number of votes, and when other European nations follow suit and elect populist-nationalist politicians who want to reduce migration to manageable levels show more
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Dutch Begin Voting In Election Where 63% of Voters Remain Undecided.

Dutch voters are set to choose their next leader and shake up their political landscape today, with four parties, including that of Party for Freedom (PVV) led by right-wing populist Geert Wilders, vying for victory.

More than 13 million voters have 26 parties to choose from in an election observed closely across Europe following 13 years of government under Mark Rutte, who was forced to resign over his inability to curb mass migration earlier this year.

Polls indicate an extremely close race, with Wilders predicted to win with 28 seats in the Dutch parliament – just one more than GroenLinks-PvdA led by the far-left Frans Timmermans and People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) led by the Turkish-born Dilan Yeşilgöz–Zegerius, Rutte’s replacement. The newly-founded centre-right New Social Contract (NSC) party, led by Pieter Omtzigt, is in a close fourth.

A staggering 63 percent of the Dutch electorate told pollsters the day before election day that they were yet to decide from whom they would cast their ballot. The victor could possibly gaining less than 20 percent of the total vote and fewer than 30 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

This year’s elections have focused primarily on issues such as migration, availability of housing, universal basic income, as well as climate change.

“The two things we can expect are that we will no longer have any ‘big’ parties left – good luck finding a majority – and high volatility, which makes it extremely difficult to make any sort of predictions about the outcome,” states assistant professor in European politics and society at Groningen University, Léonie de Jonge.

The electoral race was marred earlier this week after Thierry Baudet, leader of another right-wing populist party “Forum for Democracy,” was hospitalized following an attack. His party is expected to receive up to five seats.

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Dutch voters are set to choose their next leader and shake up their political landscape today, with four parties, including that of Party for Freedom (PVV) led by right-wing populist Geert Wilders, vying for victory. show more