PVV Ministers say they didn't jump the gun with Uganda plan

PVV Ministers Reinette Klever for Development Aid and Marjolein Faber of Asylum and Migration don’t think they prematurely announced their plan to accommodate failed African asylum seekers in “return hubs” in Uganda, they said ahead of the Cabinet meeting on Monday. On the same day, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) told the Telegraaf that it had paid nearly 20 million euros in court-imposed fines for asylum procedures taking too long.

Last week, Klever announced while on a visit to Uganda that she and Faber were working on setting up “return centers” in Uganda for asylum seekers from Africa who have exhausted all legal remedies in the Netherlands. It later turned out that the plan had not been worked out yet, that Prime Minister Dick Schoof only found out about it on the day of the announcement, and that the Ugandan government was unaware of it.

“It is a very new idea, it was only briefly discussed, it all needs to be investigated. But it is worth investigating, and that is what we are going to do,” Klever told ANP on Monday. According to the news wire, she repeatedly did not respond to the question of whether she should have coordinated the plan better in the coalition, the Cabinet, and with Uganda.

Faber told the news wire that the plan was in an “exploratory phase” and stressed that it was “no symbolic politics.” She said it wasn’t strange that Klever announced the plan before informing the Prime Minster about it because such “return hubs” were mentioned in the government program. She did not mention Uganda.

This is not the first time a PVV Minister has been accused of announcing plans before thinking them through. A few weeks ago, for example, Faber said she wanted to put signs at asylum centers, warning that the government was working on sending asylum seekers back to their country of origin. She said she had been inspired by similar signs in Denmark, but officials were unable to find such signs. The idea also met a lot of resistance in the coalition and then faded into the background after a parliamentary majority - including the coalition party NSC - voted for it to be abandoned.

Meanwhile, the IND is still struggling to process asylum applications in time. In late 2022, the Council of State ruled that judges can impose fines on the IND if asylum seekers have to wait longer than 15 months to find out whether they can stay in the Netherlands. Up to and including August, the IND has paid out almost 20 million euros in fines, the service told the Telegraaf on Monday.

Last year, almost 45,500 legal cases were filed against the IND within asylum law. The service expects similar or higher numbers this year. The vast majority of cases involve asylum procedures that take too long.