Zembla

A look at the case of Sharleyne

What is the position of migrant workers in the Netherlands? The research into the answer to this question started last summer in Boxtel, Brabant. There, angry citizens are diametrically opposed to their municipal council, because a migrant hotel for 400 migrant workers is planned on the edge of the village. The civil protest is increasing and the migrant workers themselves appear to be living and working under dubious conditions a few neighborhoods away. The situation is symbolic for many municipalities in the Netherlands. There are calls for a change of course, but which interests have ensured that the call for change has been ignored for years?

The fire brigade responds hundreds of times a day to incidents: entrapments in traffic accidents, drownings, suicides and many resuscitations. The almost daily confrontation with death is a psychological wear and tear for firefighters, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. As early as 2015, the Dutch fire brigade top promised to conduct research and made plans to better support firefighters. What became of these plans?

Every year, millions of Peking ducks are slaughtered at the duck slaughterhouse in Ermelo, a slaughterhouse that is part of a headache file for the Gelderland municipality: odor nuisance, haggling over permits and ducks that suffer needlessly during the slaughter process. Animal welfare organizations also monitor duck farms. There too, the natural needs of ducks are not met. Traditionally, there have been duck farms mainly in Gelderland, partly along the Veluwe. What does the ammonia emission from the ducks mean for the province's nitrogen policy?

Many farmers say they cannot do without glyphosate. The pesticide is very effective and therefore the most used weed killer in the world. But how safe is glyphosate? Scientists who examined the pesticide on behalf of the World Health Organization concluded that it is probably carcinogenic to humans. However, its use has recently been permitted again for 10 years by the European and national pesticide authorities. How is it possible that different independent scientists come to a different conclusion than the admission authorities? Zembla is investigating the approval of the poison.

Zembla receives a tip at the end of 2023. In a drug district in Copenhagen where a gang war is raging, an ATM with a Dutch link has been spotted. In Denmark there are concerns that the ATM could be used for money laundering. International investigation services appear to have been warning about this for some time.

Research into intercountry adoption led to revelations of falsified files, large-scale fraud and even the existence of baby farms. In 2021, researchers indicated in a report that they doubted whether an adoption system without abuses could exist. They therefore recommended temporarily stopping adoptions. Minister Weerwind has now decided to permanently end intercountry adoption in the future. Can adoption still be done safely in the meantime? And what is the situation in Bulgaria, where Roma children are more often removed from their homes and put up for adoption due to deep-rooted discrimination?

Existing recreational parks and campsites are a popular investment project for project developers. If such a park is taken over by a new owner, existing residents will have to move. People who have been holidaying there for generations, but also people and families who are forced to live in such a park permanently in times of housing shortage. In Zembla we follow the residents of the Westeinder campsite in Rijsenhout. This campsite was bought last year. Since then, the new owner has been dismantling the park piece by piece. In the broadcast we reconstruct the year in which the residents had to deal with intense conflict situations, threats and intimidation, based on unique source material. Zembla investigates the force field of conflicting interests. Who will help the vulnerable residents who have been living on the campsite for years? And why doesn't the government intervene before things get out of hand?

Conservative Christian organizations worldwide are fighting for traditional family values, even if that comes at the expense of basic democratic rights. For example, President Trump draws on a detailed strategic plan to transform America into a Christian conservative state: Project 2025. Key organizations behind Project 2025 are also active in Europe, where they support like-minded people with lawsuits, political influence and millions of dollars in financial support. In ‘God’s lobbyists’, Zembla journalists map international money flows and track down Dutch members of a network that wants to restore the ‘natural order’ by introducing strict anti-gay laws and banning divorce.

The number of asylum applications in the Netherlands has risen sharply in recent years. It is not only about adults and families who flee their country because of war or poverty, but also about thousands of minors who travel to the Netherlands without a family. These young people come directly under the authority of the reception organization Stichting Nidos. From that moment on, a youth protector must help young people in their development towards independence and monitor their well-being. But what care and guidance can these young people really count on? We asked that question to those involved in the reception. They paint a staggering picture.

Fifteen years ago, Zembla journalists discovered that the health of pedigree dogs was very poor. They were bred to meet certain aesthetic requirements, which gave them external characteristics that were very harmful: from flat snouts that made it difficult for them to breathe, to chronic headaches due to skulls that were too small. After this research, new legislation was passed to improve the welfare of pedigree dogs. What has this legislation achieved? Has health now become a priority within pedigree dog breeding? Zembla is once again investigating whether pedigree dogs have a future.

The world has watched as President Trump weakens NATO, disparages European allies and hands Ukraine over to Russia since taking office. Trump calls Putin a “reliable future business partner” who wants to end a “nasty war” and has a right to parts of Ukraine. It is a radical change of course in the White House. How much influence does Putin have over Trump? Could the radical change of course in the White House be linked to an operation that was started forty years ago by Russian intelligence? Operation Trump: How the Kremlin got a foot in the door of the White House.

Two years ago, Zembla revealed how PFAS producer Chemours (formerly Dupont) has known for decades that the PFAS they use is dangerous to humans and the environment. The commotion is huge: hearings follow in both the House of Representatives and the Provincial States, thousands of local residents file a mass complaint and the Public Prosecution Service starts a criminal investigation. Zembla follows the PFAS trail and ends up at a factory in Helmond. Zembla investigates how the pollution in Helmond could get so out of hand and why supervisors did not intervene. When the trail leads back to Chemours, sensational discoveries follow.