Dutch MP's want anti-Semitism to be grounds for denying residency applications

The lower house of the Dutch parliament wants the government to look into whether anti-Semitism can be used as grounds to refuse or revoke someone’s residency permit to the Netherlands. A parliamentary majority supported a motion by SGP parliamentarian Diederijk van Dijk to that effect.

The conservative Christian party described anti-Semitism as “an evil” that must be “repressed and vigorously combated” in the Netherlands. Van Dijk pointed out that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands has been on the rise, especially since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out last year.

Van Dijk wants the Netherlands to follow Germany’s example. There, it is already possible to deport foreign nationals found guilty of anti-Semitism, and the country is working on a stricter policy to deny people German citizenship on this grounds, he said in the motion.

He thinks the Netherlands should at least give anti-Semitism more weight in the decision-making process around applications for asylum or other forms of residency.

The SGP motion was signed by parliamentarians from the VVD, BBB, and NSC - three of the four parties currently discussing forming the next Dutch government. The fourth party, the PVV, voted for the motion. It also got support from Christian parties ChristenUnie and CDA.