Election front runner Omtzigt calls for stricter immigration limits in the Netherlands

Pieter Omtzigt wants stricter immigration rules for the Netherlands, De Telegraaf reports based on his new party NSC’s election program. The election frontrunner intends to limit the migration balance - the number of immigrants minus emigrants - to 50,000 people per year. That includes refugees, students, expats, and migrant workers. Other spearpoints in the NSC’s program are good governance, social security, and sufficient housing.

Omtzigt’s NSC is doing very well in the polls. Dutch voters have lost their trust in politics and are eager to see new faces in parliament and the Cabinet. According to Maurice de Hond’s latest poll, the NSC stands to win 28 seats in the upcoming parliamentary election on November 22, making it the biggest party in the Tweede Kamer. The VVD is second in the polls with 26 seats, followed by GroenLiks-PvdA with 24.

The fact that Omtzigt wants to crack down on migration comes as no surprise. Over the summer, he gave a lecture in Leeuwarden in which he criticized the government for making no clear policy choices and letting migration just “happen” to the Netherlands. He also suggested that the Netherlands apply for an “opt-out” in Europe, allowing it to deviate from European asylum rules and take in fewer asylum seekers. And he proposed distinguishing between temporary and permanent protection for asylum seekers.

Omtzigt has also long opposed the “globalization” of the Netherlands, and Dutch universities in particular. He wants to limit the number of international students in the Netherlands by no longer favoring them with scholarships and restricting the number of English courses at educational institutions.

He also has plans to reduce the number of migrant workers in the Netherlands. Experts previously advised against this, pointing to the staff shortages in the country and calling knowledge migrants, in particular, the “goose that lies the golden egg.”

Achieving the 50,000 migration balance will be quite a challenge. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), that number stood at 223,798 last year.

NSC was the last party to present its program for the Tweede Kamer elections on November 22.

In addition to capping migration, social security is another spearhead of the NSC's election program. Omtzigt wants to recalibrate the minimum wage. "It must be taken into account that we are in the top three with the highest minimum wage in Europe," the program states, RTL Nieuws reports. The party also plans to scrap the plans for free childcare. "There are already shortages in childcare. So if you make childcare free, you will increase the problem in the short term rather than reduce it."

NSC wants to shrink the livestock herd in the Netherlands, scrap the buyout scheme for peak polluters in agriculture, and close the Ministry of Nitrogen. "The current nitrogen law will be scrapped and replaced by a realistic alternative. And there will be a stop to building mega stables."

Omtzigt's party also wants the king to pay taxes, May 5 to be a national holiday, less bureaucracy in healthcare, and free maternity care. The party also intends to make online gambling illegal again and scrap the plan for road pricing.