Justice Sec.: Expected “flood of refugees” never happened

The expected "flood of refugees" in Hoek van Holland has not happened yet, according to State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice. 

The State Secretary said this after the first cabinet meeting after the holidays, NOS reports. He said that he had taken into account that stricter controls in France and Europe could lead to more refugees coming to the Netherlands, but so far that has not been the case. "In the past few months we have seen that it does not involve large numbers." he said. According to the State Secretary, the extra and stricter checks at Hoek van Holland act as a deterrent.

Dijkhoff believes that the European refugee problem should be tackled at the source with, among other things, more effective controls in France and Italy - where large number of refugees enter at once. He also thinks that European countries should make it clear to refugees that they "can't always go to the country they want."