Children in a School of Terror

A wave of revulsion and anger swept The Netherlands last week after terrorists seized more than 150 hostages in an effort to force the Dutch government to accept their revolutionary demands. The hostages included 55 passengers of an express train on the Utrecht-Groningen line and--to the particular fury and fear of the nation--105 children and five primary school teachers from the village of Bovensmilde. For four emotion-filled days, the children were held inside their school. Then, because most of them seemed to have fallen victim to a stomach virus, they were unexpectedly released. But the terrorists still held the school, the train and the adult hostages, and the slow-burning anger of the Dutch mounted ominously.

Creating Trouble. The kidnapers were South Moluccan rebels with a history of creating trouble in The Netherlands. In December 1975 another group of terrorists seized the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam and a train on the Utrecht-Groningen rail line (TIME, Dec. 15, 1975). Before that 15-day ordeal ended with the surrender of 14 Moluccans, three train passengers had been executed and a fourth hostage fell to his death from a consulate window.

The Moluccans seek independence for their homeland, a cluster of 800 Spice Islands in the Indonesian archipelago, which they fled after the Dutch colonial empire collapsed in 1949 and an independent government in Jakarta took control. Even after 26 years of exile, the 40,000 Moluccans in The Netherlands have still not been assimilated into

Dutch society. Most are stateless, refusing Dutch citizenship. They keep largely to themselves, living in 63 government settlements. One of those ghettos is on the outskirts of Bovensmilde, a tidy, archconservative community in The Netherlands' "Bible belt." Young Moluccan radicals, many of whom have never seen their homeland, organized a government-in-exile for "the Republic of the South Moluccas" and demanded support to regain their islands. Dutch refusal to recognize their republic has led to increasing Moluccan terrorism.

Last week's well-coordinated assaults on the train and the Bovensmilde school took place two days before a national election in which the principal contestants were Prime Minister loop den Uyl's Socialists and Justice Minister Andreas Van Agt's Christian Democrats. The Moluccans apparently hoped to force the candidates into making concessions to them in order to win voter approval. Despite the country's grim mood, the record 87% of the voters who turned out made decisions on broader issues; they gave Den Uyl's party 53 seats in the new 150-member parliament, a gain of ten; the Socialists will now probably seek to form a coalition government with the Christian Democrats. Meanwhile, Van Agt skipped the voting to take charge of troops and police in the crisis area.

Until the children were released, Van Agt announced, the government would not consider Moluccan demands, which included freedom for 21 comrades imprisoned for earlier plots and a 747 jet to take them all to safety. The Moluccans warned of "many deaths" if their demands were not met within two days, but that deadline passed without murder. At one point, however, terrified children were herded to schoolroom windows at gunpoint and forced to chant "Van Agt, we want to live."

The hostages, ranging in age from six to twelve years, were eventually allowed hot food, bedding, blankets and medicine by their captors. They played games, watched television, read and occasionally cried in fright. The Moluccans released the first pupils to fall sick and then, as the epidemic spread, telephoned Dutch authorities over a special line: "All the children will be freed. You may arrange the necessary transportation." After examining the released youngsters, Dutch doctors feared that some may have contracted meningitis. One ailing teacher was also released; the other four remained captive, though they were reportedly ill as well.

Hostages on the train, meanwhile, were treated far more harshly. In a brutal display of their serious intent, Moluccans thrust bound and blindfolded captives outside the train with ropes around their necks and then hauled them back on board.

Innocent Victims. The latest acts of terrorism could inadvertently result in tragedy for other innocent victims --Moluccans who had nothing to do with the kidnapings. Angry Dutch burghers talked of mounting vigilante attacks on the islanders' settlements, and fearful Moluccans were arming themselves. Said Socialist Deputy Henk Molleman, who has worked since the 1975 attacks to improve relations: "I see little hope for a peaceful community of Moluccans and Dutch now."

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