Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security started procedures to revoke the Dutch citizenships of suspected terrorists, he said in parliament on Tuesday. How many suspects are involved, or who they are, he refused to say, AD reports.
Previously the Minister announced that two brothers convicted of terrorism would lose their Dutch passports. This time is different, because it involves suspects against whom criminal cases are still ongoing - they have not been convicted yet.
PVV leader Geert Wilders wants to stop the appointment of Ferdinand Grapperhaus (CDA) as Minister of Justice of Security. According to Wilders, posts on Grapperhaus' personal blog show that he is "more a danger to national security than a minister of Justice", he said to ANP.
Wilders is referring to a blog post in which Grapperhaus wrote that "you should not revoke jihadists' citizenship. On the contrary, you must let them come back." He goes on to say that jihadists must return to the Netherlands so that they can be held accountable, according to the Telegraaf.
Minister Stef Blok of Security and Justice revoked the Dutch nationality of four jihadists. According to him, the four jihadists joined a terrorist organization abroad, NOS reports.
The four jihadists were also declared unwelcome foreigners, which means they can no longer legally return to the Netherlands or to other Schengen countries, according to the broadcaster. They jihadists lost their Dutch citizenship with immediate effect, though a court will review the decision at a later date.
Minister Stef Blok of Security and Justice is revoking the Dutch citizenship of a convicted jihadist for the first time. This possibility already existed in Dutch law, but this is the first time it is being used, NOS reports.
Dutch nationals in the U.K. considering taking British citizenship in order to avoid complications after the Brexit, must be aware that they will lose their Netherlands passport due to existing limits on dual nationality, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, according to The Guardian.
Refugees who received residency to the Netherlands through a general pardon in 2007 are still having problems applying for Dutch citizenship, according to the National Ombudsman and Children's Ombudsman. This process must be simplified, they find, NOS reports.
The D66 and PvdA wants to make it possible for everyone to have a dual nationality in a legislative proposal the two parties submitted on Friday, RTL Nieuws reports.
Currently, if you want to become Dutch you have to give up your other nationality, if that is possible. It also means that Dutch living abroad lose their Dutch nationality if they adopt the nationality of the country they live in.
Last year the Netherlands granted Dutch citizenship to 22 thousand people. That is 5 thousand less than the year before, a decrease of 19 percent, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands.
Some 1,700 Turks nd 900 Moroccans were given Dutch citizenship, making up the largest group. Though the number of Turks and Moroccans given citizenship has been decreasing for a number of years, according to Statistics Netherlands. Other large groups included Soviet citizens and Iraqis, with about 900 each, and Chinese with 700.
The VVD wants to double the current naturalization period for immigrants. That means that an immigrant would have to live in the Netherlands for 10 years, instead of the current five, before being granted a Dutch passport, VVD parliamentarian Malik Azmani said in an interview with Dutch newspaper Trouw on Thursday.
It is not a good idea to extend the waiting period for foreigners who applied for the Dutch nationality, according to the Council of State, the highest advisory body to the government.
People, staying in the Netherlands without nationality, should be entitled to a residence permit. Obstacles to naturalization as a Dutch should be eliminated and stateless children, born in the Netherlands, should more easily be entitled to claim Dutch citizenship.
