Netherlands' new border controls will be largely unmanned due to capacity issues
The border controls that will start next week will by no means be a wall of Koninklijke Marechaussee officers at each of the around 840 border crossings in the Netherlands. Most of these will be unmanned because the Marechaussee simply doesn’t have the staff to deploy, the trade union Marver told the Telegraaf.
“I hear strong language from The Hague about stricter controls,” said Sven Schuitema of the trade union for the Koninklijke Marechaussee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for border security. “Perhaps the Minister did not check how much capacity has been cut back on us over the past 25 years.”
As of December 9, the Netherlands will carry out border controls along the border for six months to combat “irregular migration” and “cross-border crime,” Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber announced.
With “some creative calculation” the Marechaussee has found around 50 people who can temporarily contribute to the border controls, Schuitema said. “That helps a bit, but the border is very long.” A visibly greater presence along the border would require hundreds of extra people. Manning all border crossings 24/7 would require thousands of extra people. “We are getting an extra 150 million euros, but that is needed to close the gaps that have arisen in the current border control. It is not intended for extra tasks.”
The Marechaussee already carries out “mobile checks” along the border. According to Schuitema, most of these happen at 12 big crossings between the Netherlands and Belgium. That likely won’t change much from Monday, when the six months of extra border controls start, he said.
“From December 9, we will temporarily be checking more often and checking more people,” a spokesperson for the Koninklijke Marechuassee told the newspaper. “How often and how extensively we check depends on the situation.”
The idea behind the border controls is to make illegal migration more difficult. Asylum Minster Faber wants to “send a signal.” She spoke about flexible “targeted checks carried out on vehicles using technical means” that would only have a “minor” impact on regular travelers.
There are doubts about how effective these checks will be, regardless of the fact that only a few of the border crossings can be manned. For example, the Marechaussee isn’t allowed to turn away asylum seekers at the border. “Asylum seekers can also apply for asylum in the Netherlands during border controls. They are then escorted to a reception center, where their application is examined,” the Marechaussee confirmed to the newspaper.
