VVD wants Cabinet to plan measures to reduce influx of asylum seekers

The VVD wants the Cabinet to present a package of measures to reduce the influx of asylum seekers before the summer, VVD MP Ruben Brekelmans said in the Buitenhof program. "The Netherlands must become less attractive for asylum seekers," he stated.

Once the package is ready, the VVD will "critically weigh it" and if it is not enough, a "fierce political discussion will follow," Brekelmans claimed. He said he was confident the Cabinet would emerge from it. "Patience is running out," but "a Cabinet crisis does not solve anything." For Brekelmans, it is clear that the asylum problem must be solved. Otherwise "It exudes powerlessness," he said in the Buitenhof program.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte promised action last year. He is actively working on the asylum issue in Europe, but something also needs to be done nationally, the MP said. Previously, Rutte believed he would come up with measures by the end of March, the beginning of April, but he failed to do so. The issue of asylum is very sensitive in the coalition.

One of the national measures that VVD MP Brekelmans favors is not granting permanent residence permits to asylum seekers after five years. "You can also give a temporary permit and make integration conditional on that," he said in Buitenhof.

For his party, Brekelmans claimed that "asylum is now the most important issue that needs a solution now." Next Saturday, members of the largest governing party will meet in Apeldoorn. There, the issue of asylum will again be a major point of discussion.

Rutte promised VVD members last year to reduce the influx. He said this after the parliamentary group reluctantly approved the distribution law, which can force municipalities to take in (additional) asylum seekers if they do not do so voluntarily. The Council of Ministers approved the distribution law on Friday.

Minister Hugo de Jonge (Housing) expects to succeed in presenting plans to stem the asylum influx within a few weeks. "I think we should be able to pass the law before the summer," he said before the Cabinet meeting on Friday.