http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/dutch-dream-domenica-ghidei
The Dutch dream of Domenica Ghidei
Published on : 5 March 2012 - 5:11pm | By Alberta Opoku (Photo: RNW)
She came to Holland as a 17-year old unaccompanied asylum seeker from
Eritrea, became a judge in administrative law, and is currently a
commissioner with the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission. If the
American dream had a Dutch version, Domenica Ghidei would be its
poster girl.
“Depending on the person, luck and circumstances, the Netherlands
offers opportunities. A strong network of loving friends helps a lot.
I was ambitious, and brought a solid background with me from Eritrea.
My dream was to become a doctor. But shortly after I arrived here, I
married a fellow refugee from Eritrea, and within three years I had my
first child, got divorced and had to cope as a single mother.”
Domenica took a translating job with the Justice Department. “I then
discovered how much justice meant to me, and enrolled in law school. I
realized then how the Dutch asylum procedure was politicized. To
discourage Eritreans, the Justice Ministry started to reject their
asylum applications and even withheld them a legal, full-fledged
refugee status. I saw that law and politics were very much linked;
justice and politics, that’s something else.”
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‘Harsh on African men’
Next to her studies, she did voluntary work for grassroots refugee and
migrant organisations. Domenica also wrote a critical book about the
asylum procedure, titled Door het Oog van de Naald, which literally
translates ‘Through the eye of the needle’. And she landed a job as
judge in administrative and public law at the District Court of
Amsterdam.
Soon national and international recognition for Domenica’s
achievements followed. “I was and still am very grateful for that.
However I realized that Dutch society was harsh on African men and
lenient on the women. There is a persistent bias that African men are
lazy and uncaring towards their families; while the women supposedly
need to be saved. These prejudices impacted on friends lives and mine
too,” Domenica recalls.
‘Support system’
“My first husband, the father of my eldest daughter, didn’t get a
full-fledged refugee status, so he became dependent on mine. Despite
his high education and strong family background, he couldn’t find his
way in Dutch society, or enjoy the same support system as me and be
recognized for who he was.
The father of my other two children, who’s also an Eritrean refugee,
couldn’t find a job and had the same experience. It deeply touched his
self-confidence, our relationship and the children’s image of their
father. I tried to compensate by not being very visible, which was
wrong of me. I experienced any acknowledgment of my work as painful
towards him. The more I would shine, the more it became visible that
he was not.”
That relationship also ended, and for some years now Domenica is
juggling a busy family life with a demanding career as one of the nine
Commissioners of the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission.
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Age discrimination
It’s well past midday on this snowy Thursday afternoon. In Utrecht the
Commission is holding two hearings. Commissioner and chairman Domenica
opens the hearing of a rejected job seeker versus the job agency that
rejected him. The plaintiff, who’s in his fifties claims the agency
refused to place him because of his age; the agency denies the
discrimination charge and says the man was overqualified for the job.
The
Commission will give its opinion within 8 weeks after the hearing.
“The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission is a semi-judicial body that
gives opinions in cases of discrimination on the grounds of sexual
orientation, age, race, religion and disability,” Domenica explains.
“Mainly these are discrimination cases regarding access to work,
education and goods and services. We’re not a court, because we cannot
give binding opinions; but in 75 percent of the cases, the
organisations comply with our opinions.” The Commission is currently
undergoing a transition and will soon become the National Institute on
Human Rights.
Two mothers
There are a couple of thousand Eritreans currently living in the
Netherlands and none has a professional track record similar to Do
Are Domenica’s children enjoying a similar international umenica’s.
Not to mention her personal circumstances. She was raised by a
Catholic, western, white Italian mother besides her more traditional,
Orthodox, Eritrean mother.
Domenica’s eldest daughter, Sara Widya runs her own vintage shop and
works as a graphic and art designer for magazines like Essence in
metropolitan New York City; and at home in multi-ethnic Amsterdam she
has two teenagers - Bahghi and Aaron.
Are Domenica's children enjoying a similar international upbringing as
she had? “In Eritrea, my presence was never questioned. Here, my
children are sometimes confronted with questions like ‘where are you
from?’ and these are things society doesn’t prepare them for. But
through my work and my family friends from all over the world, they
know that loved ones come from around the globe.”
Listen to the interview with Domenica Ghidei in Bridges With Africa.
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Received on Mon Mar 05 2012 - 22:11:15 EST
