On the heels of the government forcing farmers to sell their land, Dutch farmers are reportedly committing suicide at disproportionately high rates.
In November, to comply with the European Union’s radical climate laws, the Dutch government announced it would force up to 3,000 farms to shut down for good.
“There are a lot of farmers who are committing suicide in the Netherlands, about 20 to 30 a year,” stated Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek, “which is a huge overrepresentation of this particular sector of course.”
She added, “And that’s because these people are completely desperate as a result of the criminal policies of our government — and this man who committed suicide only yesterday was only 25 years old.”
Earlier this week, Dutch MEP Robert Roos also brought up suicides in an exclusive interview with Remix.
Roos said the government has “smashed these farmers for years now.”
Dutch farm families are desperate
“And the people are so desperate that many families are crying at the kitchen table every day, and even a couple of farmers committed suicide already. Really, it’s that bad,” he said.
Earlier this month, the European Union approved the Dutch farm buy-out scheme, calling it “voluntary” despite earlier reports that it will be mandatory.
The farming-intensive Netherlands is the second largest agricultural exporter in the world, which poses a problem for the Dutch government led by Mark Rutte, who wants to cut emissions of pollutants by 50% by 2030.
The Dutch farmers have been protesting their government’s emissions reduction policies for years.Last week, in a video posted online, Mark van den Oever of the Voorzitter Farmers Defence Force blasted the agreement being drafted by the Rutte government and called on farmers to “get ready” for another confrontation.
