The Netherlands has become the latest European nation to take a hardline stance against migration by announcing a list of tough measures, including the reintroduction of border checks.
This from msn.com.
Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders “Today is a beautiful day,” said Wilders
who hailed the measures as “the toughest asylum policy ever.”
The Dutch government is fast-tracking measures to limit asylum policies, which will soon be sent to Parliament for approval.
Key proposals include:
– tightening family reunification rules for asylum recipients,
– shortening temporary visa durations, and
– designating some areas of Syria as safe, allowing authorities to deny asylum applications from those regions.
Syrians currently make up the largest group of migrants arriving in the Netherlands, and these changes aim to curb overall asylum numbers.
The Netherlands’ policy shift follows recent discussions among European Union (EU) leaders aiming to address migration by restricting previously unchecked movement between EU countries, many of which did not carry out border checks until recently.
According to the European Union website:
Countries that formerly did not carry out border checks can temporarily reintroduce them for up to six months.
Recently Germany reintroduced some border checks, and France’s new government has committed to a stricter stance on immigration. These moves signal a broader trend across the EU toward tightening migration policies after years of relatively welcoming approaches.
Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber said:
We want to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible.
Faber is a member of Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Party for Freedom, which currently dominates the government.
Again, as noted below his photo above, Wilders hailed the measures, having said:
Today is a beautiful day. The toughest asylum policy ever.
The Dutch Cabinet approved a migration reform package after lengthy negotiations, which included Geert Wilders and other party leaders.
In addition to reintroducing border checks:
[T]he package also eliminates the law
requiring municipalities to house migrants.
In response, the Dutch municipalities association warned that the new measures would “create chaos.” It said:
[T]asks should be fairly distributed among municipalities.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the moves aim:
[To] reducing the inflow, accelerating the outflow, returning those who are not lawfully staying and getting the asylum chain back in order and thus reducing the pressure on society.
The Dutch Council for Refugees criticized the newly proposed asylum policies, which leaked earlier in the week, stating:
[T]hey would fail to address underlying issues in the Netherlands.
The council argued this “toughest-ever asylum policy” would benefit no one, pointing instead:
– to problems with a slow asylum processing system, and
– inadequate accommodation for new arrivals as the real causes of the strain on resources.
Apparently, the Dutch Council for Refugees is unaware of the statement from the Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, who said (repeated from above):
We want to make the Netherlands
as unattractive as possible.
NOTE: According to figures from the Immigration and Naturalization Service:
– Over the past year, 51,000 people have applied for asylum in the Netherlands, which has a population of 18 million.
– Last month saw 4,026 arrivals, a slight decrease from 4,683 in September of the previous year.
The recent debates focused on using either crisis legislation, which bypasses parliamentary approval, or fast-track legislation requiring lawmakers’ consent, as the government moved to enact stricter immigration policies.
God speed to Conservatism in The Netherlands and to the Take Back of their nation from Islam.
