Asylum laws "carelessly" prepared, won't decrease asylum seeker inflow: Council of State
Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber’s laws for a stricter asylum policy were “carelessly” prepared and do “not make plausible” that they will contribute to limiting the influx of asylum seekers or a more efficient asylum procedure, the Council of State said in an advisory report on Monday. The Minister should not submit the proposals to parliament as they are now, the Council said.
The Council of State’s advice applies to the bills for the Two-Status System Act and Asylum Emergency Measures Act. The two-status system divides asylum seekers into people who are persecuted for their political views, religion, or sexual orientation, and people fleeing from war and violence, with the latter group receiving fewer rights. The Asylum Emergency Measures Act stipulates, among other things, that permanent residence permits will be abolished and that residence permits will have a shorter term.
These bills are meant to achieve the “strictest asylum policy ever.” But according to the Council of State, the Minister did “not make plausible” that the measures would contribute to limiting the influx of people seeking safety in the Netherlands.
It is also unlikely that the laws will lead to a more efficient asylum procedure. In fact, the Council of State is concerned that the implementation of these laws would have the opposite effect. “There is a great chance that the measures will actually lead to an additional burden for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) and the judiciary,” the Council said. The Council for the Judiciary previously raised this same concern.
The Council of State also mentioned the “careless preparation” of these bills. “The fact that there is a political desire to take urgent steps to tighten up the national asylum policy is insufficient reason to skip steps in the preparation of legislation or to take too little time for this.”
The Council of State is an important advisory body to the Cabinet and its advice is generally taken very seriously by national politics. But the advice is not binding, something that Asylum Minister Faber repeatedly stressed. “The advice is not binding, I can do whatever I want with it,” the PVV Minister said on Friday, saying that she intended to make no major adjustments to the laws and would submit them to parliament regardless of what the Council of State had to say.
The far-right PVV is eager to get its promised “strictest asylum policy yet.” PVV leader Wilders also said last week that the bills would be introduced “quickly and unchanged” with “no more adjustments, delays, and obstructions.”
