Formation parties could declare "asylum crisis" to enable more extreme measures: report

The PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB will discuss far-reaching proposals on asylum in the Cabinet formation negotiations on Tuesday. They are giving serious consideration to declaring the asylum situation a “crisis,” which would enable them to take more extreme measures like not processing any new asylum applications for a period, sources close to the negotiations told NOS.

The parties reason that the number of asylum seekers in the Netherlands has become so large that the country can no longer cope, creating a crisis situation. That would also give the new Cabinet time to work on structural measures.

According to NOS’s sources, the negotiating parties are looking at the same proposals the Rutte IV Cabinet collapsed over. That includes a two-status system in which asylum seekers with less chance of getting refugee status and permanent residence in the Netherlands have fewer rights. They also want to limit family reunification and cut back on the facilities in the reception for people with little chance of getting residence in the Netherlands. That should make the Netherlands less attractive to asylum seekers, they believe.

The broadcaster’s sources stressed that the parties have made no decisions yet on this topic.

Geert Wilders’ PVV, in particular, wants to significantly reduce the number of asylum seekers. The party would prefer to close the borders entirely to people fleeing war, violence, and persecution. The VVD and BBB also want to limit the influx. The NSC agrees, but only if the Netherlands continues to respect human rights and international treaties.

When the parties discussed asylum and migration in the formation negotiations last week, Wilders left the discussion early. He then posted on X that he was done making concessions.

In 2022, the VVD faction in parliament also asked State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) whether it was possible to stop processing new asylum requests. Van der Burg responded that the Aliens Act allows for these types of temporary measures, but only if there is a real emergency, like a war. The situation then did not constitute an emergency - the asylum problem is of a structural nature, Van der Burg argued. He believes the issue lies in the Netherlands not having enough reception locations.

The State Secretary also emphasized that a large part of asylum law is determined by the European Union, not by the individual member states.