Thousands of undocumented migrants keep the Netherlands clean. They are indispensable, but also always remained invisible.Until the corona pandemic forced us to notice them.
On Wednesday morning, the heart of Amsterdam acts treacherously calm. Red velvet curtains are still closed, as are the wok restaurants, coffee shops and the hop-on-hop-off canor. Here and there you see a cleaner polishing away the entertainment and embarrassment of the night before. On the sidewalk of the Oudezijds Voorburg- wal, people hop back and forth against the cold; half-shekkies come from behind ears to be relit. You hear Dutch, but also every other language possible.
“Who’s the last one? A woman with a barbed voice and nervous movements has come to his feet. A man half-heartedly raises his hand. ‘Then I’m next,’ she says in poor English, then positions herself close to the canal-green door.
All eyes are on that same door, number 12. As it nears ten o’clock, that door will open at any moment. When a woman in a white doctor’s coat appears in the opening to hand out numbers, the group presses forward. In order of arrival, or first come, first served. This is how basic care works for people who cannot find help in the regular care system.
Inside, family physician Tom Matthews (41) is already seated. His stature, tall and robust, fills the coffee room. His gentle gestures reassure. He wears a lab coat “for fidelity. Four weeks ago, he became a father. Yet today he is back at Kruispost, his eyes not nearly as tired as you might expect. In addition to his regular work, Matthews appears as a volunteer at this health post a few times a month. He has been doing so for sixteen years.
As to why, he shrugged his shoulders as if it were self-explanatory.’Why do you become a doctor? Because you want to help people who need help.’ And here, at the Kruispost, he says, you can help people with their basic needs. ‘Just like every- one has a right to.’
Every morning and evening the sidewalk is filled with health care seekers wanting to see a family doctor. People who are helped with something as small as birth control or ear drops. These are all people who are here, but don’t actually exist. Who live here, but on paper enjoy little protection. They usually do not come from one of the European labor migration countries, are not refugees, nor are they in the asylum system; they are just there. They live and work in the Netherlands, but without papers. And therefore also without health insurance.
Sure, says Matthews, this group should also be helped by a regular GP or hospital. In an ideal world, there is no need for Kruispost. The right to basic care is there for everyone. But not all health care providers do. Some are just too busy, others don’t know about the special subsidy scheme (CAK) that exists for undocumented people. ‘Sometimes I call up to a fellow practice, just to explain it again,’ Matthews says. ‘We swore the same oath, right?
Text Sarah Haaij and Michael Beltran
Photography Renée de Groot
