THE HAGUE, Netherlands: A pair of bills cracking down on asylum-seekers wishing to settle in the Netherlands has passed in the Dutch parliament after wrangling and soul-searching by some lawmakers who feared the law would criminalize offering compassionate help to undocumented migrants.
The legislation cuts temporary asylum residency from five to three years, indefinitely suspends the issuance of new asylum residency permits and reins in family reunions for people who have been granted asylum. It passed in the lower house late Thursday evening but could still be rejected in the upper house.
The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence.
Taking tough measures to rein in migration was a policy cornerstone for the four-party coalition led by the Party for Freedom of anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders. The coalition collapsed last month after just 11 months in office, and migration is expected to be a key issue ahead of the snap election Oct. 29.
Wilders pulled the plug on the coalition saying it was taking too long to enact moves to rein in migration. His coalition partners rejected the criticism, saying they all backed the crackdown. His party currently holds a narrow lead in opinion polls over a center-left two-party bloc that recently agreed to a formal merger.
The opposition Christian Democrats withdrew their support for the legislation put to the vote Thursday over a late amendment that would criminalize people living in the Netherlands without a valid visa or asylum ruling — and would also criminalize people and organizations that help such undocumented migrants. The amendment was introduced by a member of Wilders’ party and passed narrowly because a small number of opposition lawmakers were not present for the vote.
The vote took place in the final session of parliament before lawmakers broke for the summer. The upper house will consider the legislation after it returns from the recess. If Christian Democrats in the upper chamber reject it, the legislation will be returned to the lower house.
A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament
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A bill setting new limits on asylum-seekers passes in the Dutch parliament
- The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence
19 EU countries call on EU to fund ‘return hubs’
- The European Parliament must still vote on the measures
- Denmark has made illegal immigration one of its main battlehorses during its six-month stint at the helm of the EU presidency
COPENHAGEN: After the European Union significantly tightened its immigration policy earlier this month, 19 EU countries on Wednesday urged the European Commission to finance “return hubs” outside the bloc for failed asylum-seekers.
Interior ministers from the 27-member bloc greenlighted a package of measures on December 8 that include the opening of return hubs and harsher penalities for migrants who refuse to leave European territory.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden called on the Commission to make the changes possible.
“Specifically, the EU countries want ... the Commission to help ensure, going forward, that the financing of, among other things, return centers can be done using EU funds,” the Danish immigration ministry said in a statement, with the signed letter sent to the Commission attached.
The European Parliament must still vote on the measures.
Denmark has made illegal immigration one of its main battlehorses during its six-month stint at the helm of the EU presidency, which ends at the end of the month.
“The work is not done, and I’m glad that there are now 19 countries that stand behind a letter calling on the EU system to provide diplomatic and economic help to ensure that the new and innovative solutions — such as return centers — will become a reality,” Danish Immigration Minister Rasmus Stoklund said in a statement.
“For years, Denmark has worked hard to persuade other European countries of Danish ideas such as moving the processing of asylum applications outside Europe, as well as other ideas involving cooperation with third countries outside the EU,” the ministry added.
“The group of EU countries that support such new and innovative solutions has steadily expanded,” it said.
Activists working with migrants have meanwhile denounced the measures, saying they violate migrants’ human rights and risk pushing them into danger.
