Expats are told to 'f**k off back to where you came from' after writing in English to Dutch neighbours saying local church should stop ringing its bells at night

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Expats in the Netherlands claim they were told to ‘f**k off back to where you came from’ by Dutch neighbours after writing in English to ask a local church to stop ringing its bells at night.

In a note, an unnamed author shared concerns with fellow residents of Amsterdam that the in-progress restoration of the nearby Westerkerk clocktower could see the Cathedral resume the tolling of its bells ‘every 15 minutes, all day and all night’.

The note claims that the City of Amsterdam had already received complaints but would need more to demand the church keeps to sociable hours – prompting the author to ask neighbours to simply contact the church if ‘bothered by the bells’.

The author, who has lived in the Leliegracht neighbourhood for the last two years, told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf she was ‘incredibly shocked’ by the response which told to her to ‘f**k off’ and ‘go back where you came from’, and to ‘learn good Dutch first’.

‘But I am learning Dutch,’ she told De Telegraaf. ‘I do my best and love the city. What should I do now, move house?’

Aerial view of Westerkerk church in Amsterdam, currently undergoing restoration

The anonymous author said she received a litany of outraged responses after sharing her note

In her message to residents, the author said she and her partner had asked the City whether the bells could stop ‘for instance’ between 11pm and 7am to ‘guarantee a better sleep’.

She explained that the church had raised the topic internally but replied that it would need more complaints to push through a schedule change.

The author asked residents ‘bothered’ by the noise to message the City themselves, helpfully sharing contact details on the note, to raise their concerns ‘so that we could all enjoy the beauty of the cathedral without the inconvenience of the noise’.

But while the message was only meant for her neighbours, she told Dutch media people from across the country have chimed in with their opinions.

Davey Bindervoet, a local singer, went so far as to write a ‘protest song’ heralding the tolling of the bells: ‘Nothing swings as beautifully as the Westertoren.’

Others said they preferred to fall asleep to the sound of the bells ringing.

The Westerkerk dispute follows the shock victory of far-right politician Geert Wilders’ party in the 2023 Dutch elections after a staunch anti-immigration campaign.

Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) claimed 23.49 per cent of the seats on November 22, a gain of 20 up to 37 in total, after outgoing conservative leader Mark Rutte’s cabinet collapsed in July due to immigration policy disagreements between coalition parties.

Wilders now need to find partners to build a workable governing coalition.

Despite pockets of anti-immigration sentiment in the Netherlands, 90 per cent of Dutch people speak English.

In 2016, the Netherlands overtook Sweden as the most proficient country in English outside of the Anglosphere.

The researchers correlated English proficiency with ‘higher incomes and better quality of life’, where the lingua franca tends to provide opportunities for global trade, learning and investment.

The country has espoused liberal values, and protected liberal institutions, for centuries – extending through the economy and social attitudes alike.

But Amsterdam last year launched a ‘stay away’ digital discouragement campaign targeted at British tourists drawn in by sex and drug tourism.

The city has been met with backlash for proposals to reorganise its world-famous Red Light District, proposing to move sex workers to a so-called mega-brothel on the outskirts of town – to the dismay of sex workers and residents in the suburbs.

It also imposed a cap on the number of the number of flights entering Schiphol Airport – and introduced special warnings to potential travellers when looking up terms like ‘stag party Amsterdam’ and ‘pub crawl Amsterdam’ online.

Ancient carillon bells pictured in the Westerkerk church, the largest church in Amsterdam

The note’s author asked residents ‘bothered’ by the bell ringing to message the City with their concerns as the Westerkerk church (pictured) undergoes restoration

A 2021 report by Knowledge Platform Integration & Society, cited by the European Commission, found that there was ‘institutional racism’ present in Dutch housing and labour markets.

‘It has been proven that someone with a Dutch name is more likely to pass the first round of a selection process than someone with, for example, an Arabic-sounding name,’ KIS researcher Hanneke Felten said, commenting on the findings.

‘Study after study shows that, so it is clear that this is institutional racism.’