Mark Harbers resigned as State Secretary for Justice and Security on Tuesday evening. The VVD State Secretary, who is responsible for asylum, stepped down after it became known that his Ministry deliberately reported incomplete figures on crimes committed by asylum seekers in a report.
Mark Harbers
May 22 '19 08:04
May 16 '19 11:00
The Ministry of Justice and Security hid the number of serious crimes committed by asylum seekers in the Netherlands by including crimes like sexual offenses, aggravated assaults, and murder and manslaughter or attempts thereto under the heading of "other" in figures released to parliament, the Telegraaf reports.
May 1 '19 15:40
American preacher Steven Anderson will not be allowed into the Netherlands and the rest of the Schengen area, State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security said on Wednesday in response to parliamentary questions. According to Harbers, the government is "taking strong action against extremist speakers who, by spreading their beliefs, restrict the freedoms of others or even incite hatred or violence", NOS reports.
Apr 24 '19 09:19
COC Nederland wants the Netherlands to deny entry to American preacher Steven Anderson. The LGBTQ interest group calls on State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security to ban him from entering the Netherlands, NOS reports.
Apr 1 '19 08:31
The Dutch government must do more against child asylum seekers disappearing from asylum centers. Over the past five years, 60 minor Vietnamese asylum seekers disappeared from Dutch asylum centers under dubious circumstances, and nothing seems to be done about it, National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking Herman Bolhaar said to Nieuwsuur.
Feb 28 '19 13:40
State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security stripped 37-year-old Outhmane B. of his Dutch nationality. B. traveled to Syria with his family in 2014 and followed jihadist training courses there. He was put on the national terrorism list in 2016, De Gelderlander reports.
According to the newspaper, B. lost his Dutch nationality because he "joined an organization that participates in a national or international armed conflict and poses a threat to national security". The man can appeal against the decision.
Jan 30 '19 08:32
The four coalition parties reached a compromise on the children's pardon, a topic that caused conflict among the parties for the past two weeks. The rules will be relaxed for the "existing cases" of asylum children and their parents who are rooted in the Netherlands, like the CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie wanted. And after that the children's pardon will be abolished, like the VVD wanted, NOS reports.
Jan 24 '19 08:57
The employees of special reception locations for problem causing asylum seekers have major trouble with a growing group of residents who have addiction- or psychological problems. The employees can not manage the antisocial or criminal behavior of these residents, the Inspectorate for Justice and Security said, RTL Nieuws reports.
Jan 22 '19 13:10
Convicted jihadist Marouane B. from Arnhem is no longer a Dutch national. State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security stripped his Dutch nationality, a spokesperson for the Ministry confirmed to NU.nl after reports in the Telegraaf.
Jan 21 '19 09:51
On Saturday coalition party CDA announced that the party wants to extend the children's pardon, joining the D66 and ChristenUnie who have been calling for this for some time. The VVD is now the only one of the four coalition parties who wants to stick to the agreement made in the Rutte III coalition agreement, which states that the previous government's children's pardon will remain unchanged, the Volkskrant reports.
Dec 5 '18 10:20
A large majority in the lower house of Dutch parliament supports the government's intention to sign the United Nations' new migration pact next week, was revealed in a debate on the matter on Tuesday.
In addition to coalition parties VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie, the pact is also supported by GroenLinks, PvdA and DENK, NU.nl reports PVV, 50Plus, SGP and FvD are against the pact. They fear that migrants may derive new rights form the pact. PvdD and SP are still considering.
Sep 13 '18 13:40
It is "precisely the intention" that not many child asylum seekers qualify for the children's pardon, State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security said in a debate about Lili and Howick on Wednesday. The two Armenian kids were set to be deported on Saturday, after living in the Netherlands for 10 years, but got an exemption at the last minute, AD reports.
Sep 12 '18 10:50
The Amsterdam city council wants asylum children who've been living in the Netherlands for more than five years, to be able to stay in the country because this is now their home. The council called on Mayor Femke Halsema to ask State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security to implement a so-called children's pardon, Het Parool report.
Sep 10 '18 15:40
The government of Curacao is denying fleeing Venezuelans their international right to asylum, according to a report Amnesty International published on Monday. The human rights organization calls on the Netherlands to intervene, ANP reports.
Sep 10 '18 07:50
State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security received such serious threats regarding the deportation of two Armenian children, that he had to go into hiding last week, sources in The Hague told the Telegraaf.
Jul 5 '18 16:20
The Netherlands immigration service IND is making changes to the way they test asylum seekers' sexuality and religion. Currently the differences in cultures sometimes leads to mistakes being made, ANP reports.
Mar 30 '18 14:00
The Dutch government wants to send asylum seekers back to the country they first arrived in when they came to Europe, State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security, which also includes Asylum and Migration, said to the Volkskrant.
Harbers want all EU countries to implement this measure, so that traveling from country to country to find the best asylum possibilities becomes unattractive for asylum seekers. If he has his way, asylum seekers can only apply for asylum in the Netherlands if they entered the country via a port or airport.
Mar 8 '18 12:50
The European Union must do more to stop the undocumented migration of asylum seekers through Europe, State Secretary Mark Harbers wrote in a letter to the European Commission, the Telegraaf reports.
The government considers it a major problem that asylum seekers can freely travel virtually anywhere through Europe to get to the country where they want to apply for asylum. Because of this, the Netherlands is getting a disproportionate number of asylum seekers, Harbers said to the newspaper.
Feb 1 '18 15:10
The presence of an asylum center has no measurable effect on safety and crime in a neighborhood, scientific research and documentation center WODC concludes in a study done on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Security. State Secretary Mark Harbers sent the results to the Tweede Kamer, NOS reports.
Dec 13 '17 09:22
The Dutch immigration and naturalization service IND received a document from the Dutch embassy in Rwanda that may prove that a Rwandan refugee who received Dutch nationality in 2006 was involved in genocide in his home country in 1994. State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security is working on revoking the man's Dutch nationality, AD reports.
The man in question, 62-year-old Jean-Baptiste N., came to the Netherlands as an asylum seeker in 1999. He received Dutch nationality in 2006. He's been living and working in the Eindhoven region for years.
Oct 23 '17 12:00
The names of the Rutte III cabinet's Ministers and State Secretaries were announced on Saturday. In addition to Prime Minster Mark Rutte, there wil be 15 Ministers and eight State Secretaries. Just over a third of the new government are women. The expectation is that the Rutte III cabinet will take office on October 26th, RTL Nieuws reports.
May 10 '17 10:22
On Wednesday afternoon European Central Bank president Mario Draghi is visiting the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. He can expect to be met with hostility and demands for the ECB to stop pushing billions of euros into the European economy in an effort to boost growth, NU.nl reports after speaking with numerous parliamentarians.
May 25 '16 12:27
The lower house of Dutch parliament mostly approves of the agreements the Euro-countries reached on debt relief for Greece, NU.nl reports after talking to the parliamentary parties.
Nov 17 '15 10:04
The investigation into the leak from the commission for the intelligence and security services is starting to take shape. The first two members of the parliamentary committee that will be investigating this leak were announced on Monday - PvdA parliamentarian Jeroen Recrout and VVD parliamentarian Mark Harbers.
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