Resistance to asylum shelters led to far-right gains in municipal elections

Far-right and local parties seem to have benefited from locals’ resistance to plans to open an asylum shelter in their municipalities. In various municipalities, parties opposed to asylum shelters won significantly. The PVV more than doubled its seats in Terneuzen, where resistance to an asylum shelter ultimately led to the mayor resigning. And the far-right FvD made the biggest gains in yesterday’s election.

The PVV became the biggest party in Terneuzen with 7 seats, up from 3 seats in the council. The party loudly campaigned against the arrival of an asylum shelter in the run-up to the election.

A majority of the Terneuzen municipal council supported opening a shelter for asylum seekers on an industrial estate, but later decided against it due to local unrest. In November, Mayor Erik van Merrienboer (PvdA) resigned because the aldermen, on the advice of the municipality council, refused to grant a permit for the shelter.

Patrick van der Hoeff, the PVV lead candidate in Terneuzen, believes his party owes its victory largely to the opposition to the asylum shelter. “We had counted on a gain, but did not expect it to be this large,” Van der Hoeff said.

The anti-asylum PVV became the largest party in Zoetermeer, Papendrecht, Terneuzen, Pekela, and Stadskanaal. On X, PVV leader Geert Wilders thanked his voters for the “wonderful results.”

The other far-right, anti-asylum party, FvD, made massive gains in yesterday’s elections, partly because it participated in twice as many municipalities as in 2022. FvD’s votes quadrupled to around 300,000. The party is likely to win one or more seats in all the municipalities where FvD participated.

In Venlo, the new local party Venloos Burger Initiatief, which explicitly opposes the expansion of an asylum shelter, won enough votes to enter the city council with 3 seats. Lead candidate Twan Schroembges told NOS that trust in local politics must be restored, and that requires listening to the citizens. He said that Venloos Burger Initiatief will “do everything in its power” to block the council’s decision to expand the asylum shelter.

In Hoorn, the local party Hart van Hoorn is the big winner, securing six seats and doubling its presence in the municipal council. Hart van Hoorn campaigned against taking in asylum seekers. “No asylum shelter in our municipalities,” was one of the party’s key points in the campaign.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten (D66) told ANP that he understands locals’ “frustrations” regarding the arrival of asylum shelters. “You might think: this is happening to us, while we ourselves want to have a say in the size of a reception center or the conditions for asylum accommodation.”

He stressed that the Cabinet aims to reduce the influx of asylum seekers so that the Asylum Distribution Act, which obliges municipalities to take in a fair share of asylum seekers, becomes redundant. He also said that the Cabinet will “definitely work out” better cooperation between the national government and municipalities.