Dutch gov't to scrap part of asylum law to lower inflow; Irresponsible, Refugee org says

Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber will “very quickly” suspend part of the Aliens Act so that the Cabinet can take emergency measures to severely limit the inflow of asylum seekers. These measures will be “submitted to the Council of Ministers” and can then come into effect almost immediately. The Minister’s plans are very irresponsible and will end with asylum seekers paying a high price for political unwillingness, VluchtelingenWerk Nederland said.

Faber is still working on the required substantiation of the crisis measures, she said after her first parliamentary debate. But several media already reported that she will announce the steps on Friday. They’re part of the government program that the Cabinet will present, sources said. Faber confirmed that the program will mention the measures, but did not want to say in so many words that they will then also come into effect immediately. The PVV Minister did say that her Ministry, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), and the other involved authorities are already prepared for the steps.

The coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB already announced their intention to make the emergency decree, intended for crisis situations, in the coalition agreement before the new Cabinet took office. That decree makes it possible to take temporary crisis measures like restricting family reunification, objections and appeals to the IND’s decisions, and renewed asylum applications. Just like during the coronavirus pandemic, the Cabinet does not have to wait for the approval of parliament but can act immediately. Faber must send a proposal to parliament afterward to include the measures in the law.

Opposition parties, including immigration-critical parties like the SGP, protested fiercely on Thursday against the measures Faber wants to take. SGP parliamentarian Diederik van Dijk questioned the decision to bypass parliament.

Faber insisted that “it is all correct, it is all according to the law.” She pointed out that parliament can later express its opinion on the bill that must ultimately legalize the crisis measures, but that did not calm the critics. CDA leader Henri Bontebal said that even something that is legally permitted can still harm democracy and the rule of law.

The governing party NSC, the self-proclaimed guardian of the rule of law within the governing coalition, supports Faber. The Netherlands is experiencing an asylum crisis, and this emergency measure is necessary, said MP Diederik Boomsma. However, it must be substantiated so carefully that it can also withstand the courts, and the Council of Ministers still has to approve this reasoning.

The Cabinet will meet on Friday. If it agrees, Prime Minister Dick Schoof can then issue the emergency decree. Schoof said earlier that this would certainly not happen before Budget Day on Tuesday. Faber said that it could happen around the third Tuesday of September.

VluchtelingWerk, the Dutch council for refugees, called Faber’s plan to cut part of the asylum law an “irresponsible” choice. “The problems in asylum reception are self-created and the result of political choices,” a spokesperson said. She pointed out that the government can only declare a crisis if there is actually a crisis situation. “There is no question of an unexpectedly large number of asylum seekers in the Netherlands. This is not force majeure, but political unwillingness.”

The organization is also critical of the way in which Faber wants to implement the plans, specifically that the emergency decree allows the government to bypass parliament. “The arbitrary declaration of a crisis that is not based on facts, and without a careful legislative process, should never give the government the space to apply emergency measures,” the spokesperson said. “VluchtelingenWerk is seriously concerned about the measures that will follow, for which asylum seekers will pay a high price.”