Council of State has "great concerns" about Asylum Minister's plans
The Council of State has “great concerns” about Minister Marjolein Faber’s (Asylum and Migration) plans to reduce the number of asylum seekers and implement a two-status system, it said in advice on two draft bills submitted by the PVV Minister. The laws will “considerably” increase the workload of the institutions involved, cost a lot of money, and lead to longer, not shorter asylum procedures, the Council of State said.
In the Asylum Emergency Measures Act, Faber wants to, among other things, reduce the validity of an asylum residency permit from five to three years, abolish the indefinite asylum permit, and no longer allow family reunification for adult children and unmarried partners. With the Two Status System Act, she wants to introduce a system that distinguishes between people who are persecuted because of their political views, religion, or sexual orientation and people fleeing war or violence. The first group can always apply for asylum. The second group is temporarily accommodated and must return as soon as it is safe in their country of origin.
“These proposals will almost all lead to a considerable additional workload for the IND, and as an extension of that, also to a great increase in workload and high costs for the judiciary, both at the courts and on appeal,” the Council of State said. “There will be much more litigation. The proposed measures will also lead to new legal questions that need to be answered.”
The Council of State “emphatically” pointed out that is not only the immigration service IND that is already overloaded and facing staff shortages, but also the immigration law system. “Extra burden means structurally more and longer procedures, contrary to what the Minister intends with the legislative proposal.”
It also pointed out that the Netherlands still has to incorporate the European Migration Pact into its legislation by June 2026. “A lot of legislative work needs to be done to achieve it,” the Council of State said. “The IND and the judiciary will have their hands full with that. If the implementation of the Migration Pact is not realized on time, there is a risk of duplication of work, because aliens can still rely on the Migration Pact.”
The Council of the Judiciary and the Dutch Bar Association (NOvA) also previously raised concerns about the Schoof I Cabinet’s asylum plans. The lawyers also warned that the Minister was rushing through the legislative process. “Due to this rushed approach, the Bar Association and other key stakeholders in the asylum process are effectively sidelined,” said NOvA chair Sanne van Oers. “We fear this situation may become more common, with significant consequences for our democratic rule of law.”
