Dutch cabinet presses Europe on undocumented migration

The European Union must do more to stop the undocumented migration of asylum seekers through Europe, State Secretary Mark Harbers wrote in a letter to the European Commission, the Telegraaf reports.

The government considers it a major problem that asylum seekers can freely travel virtually anywhere through Europe to get to the country where they want to apply for asylum. Because of this, the Netherlands is getting a disproportionate number of asylum seekers, Harbers said to the newspaper.

Harbers therefore wants it to be easier to deport these migrants out of the country again. If they enter through Belgium or Germany, for example, the government wants to be able to send them back to that country immediately. European Union rules currently don't allow that.

The State Secretary wants a fairer distribution of asylum seekers in Europe. If countries continue to refuse to take people in, their EU subsidies must be cut, according to the government.