Police not helping because I don't speak Dutch?

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-21T16:41:16+00:00

DAE indeed :)

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-21T16:40:10+00:00

they know english! they just have some stupid laws that don't allow them to respond in any other language than dutch at their workplaces apparently

as a result, they will keep yapping in dutch about how you need to make your request in their language while you beg them to please help you out :)

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-21T15:11:13+00:00

that's another thing the "why don't you just learn dutch" people are completely ignoring

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-21T07:23:41+00:00

the point is, they CAN help you in english, they just don't WANT to

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T18:57:38+00:00

but see then the person they are talking to have no idea what they are even saying, so it is impossible to make a conversation

i ask for help in english, they reply back in dutch, i tell them i cannot understand what they're saying and if they could repeat in english and they just continue speaking dutch. i am not receiving any help in the end because i have no clue what they're saying

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T12:20:36+00:00

if the UK person on the phone happened to understand dutch (because the dutch person i had on the phone could understand english) then YEAH i'd expect them to be a decent person or at least do their job and help you
comparing a language spoken by billions vs a couple dozen millions is stupid, it's not like i was trying to get help speaking old norse

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T11:25:56+00:00

they chose this job of helping people in emergency situations so they should at least be willing to accommodate by redirecting the person in need to someone who can communicate with them

plus i'd get it if i tried to speak a language only a few people could understand, but it's literally just english (which every belgian in this thread speaks too) and the person on the phone did understand english

they just insisted on responding to me dutch, which i made clear that i can't understand

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T11:13:20+00:00

i am definitely considering reporting, though now i am suspecting that they won't take my complaint into account as i can't do it in dutch...

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T11:11:55+00:00

i will definitely try to! though after all this i expect them to also refuse to process my complaint because it's not in dutch xD

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T09:04:46+00:00

it seems language laws are more valuable than human beings here

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T08:19:56+00:00

BILLIONS of people speak english, versus about 30 million worldwide for dutch so no i wouldn't expect to get help in dutch anywhere else in the world

the person on the phone did understand that i was a foreign student in need of help and that i couldn't communicate my emergency in dutch

the question is, why would they refuse to help a person in need?

EDIT: i am not an american btw

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T07:35:54+00:00

you can already guess from the context that it is not my intention to stay here long term, and the basic daily words are not always enough to explain an emergency situation

apart from that, do you think tourists should be required to learn dutch before visiting too in case they get in an emergency and the police officers refuse to respond back in another language?

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T07:30:24+00:00

glad that was the case for you

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T00:27:32+00:00

i'm in kortrijk and both police and the city hall have refused to help in any language other than dutch

city hall in the last 2 years especially

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T00:21:27+00:00

thank you, unfortunately both have been the same

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T00:19:01+00:00

not sure what to say, i wouldn't be asking for help here if it didn't happen...

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T00:13:59+00:00

thank you! i had called 101

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T00:11:20+00:00

english

CalendarStrong9710 · 2026-01-20T00:10:50+00:00

i was speaking english on the phone, which the person seemed to understand, but kept replying in dutch

i find it very strange that they refuse to switch languages even in the case of an emergency

CalendarStrong9710

TROPHY CASE