Chamber adapts bill to spread asylum locations across the Netherlands | Politics

Sep 22, 2023 at 6:24 p.m

The House of Representatives wants to simplify the complex bill to distribute asylum reception across the Netherlands through adjustments. It is still unclear whether a parliamentary majority will agree to the law. Moreover, the Senate must also consider it.

The dispersal law must distribute reception locations for asylum seekers more evenly across the Netherlands. At the moment, municipalities can only offer places voluntarily and there is a constant shortage.

There is a shortage again this week. More than nineteen hundred people are now staying in the Ter Apel registration center, while there is room for two thousand.

In the future, the law should make it possible to reward municipalities if they register voluntarily. In extreme cases, the government can also use coercion.

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Municipalities should be given longer

The bill that the cabinet sent to Parliament before the summer attracted a lot of criticism from municipalities, provinces and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). The system was far too complex, which would have made implementation very complicated.

CDA, D66, PvdA, SP, GL, PvdD, ChristenUnie, BBB, SGP and Volt have worked together in recent days to make the law simpler. For example, municipalities are given longer time to voluntarily offer locations. The distribution is also made in one instead of two rounds. This way, municipalities immediately know where they stand.

They can also exchange places with each other. For example, do more status holders live in one municipality? Then the other municipality opens an asylum seeker center (azc). After nine months, the government will check whether the shelter has been arranged. If there is still a shortage, municipalities can still be forced.

SGP against, BBB still has conditions

In principle, the parties mentioned together have sufficient seats to adopt the amended law. The House of Representatives will debate the law on Tuesday and Wednesday. Whether all these parties will ultimately vote for the law remains to be seen.

That seems crazy, but some parties sometimes tinker with a law even though they are fundamentally against it. In any case, they want to ensure that there is a better law if it is passed.

For example, the SGP is against the distribution law. The party believes that this should not be imposed from The Hague. As far as the SGP is concerned, the number of asylum applications must also be reduced.

CDA, D66, GL-PvdA, ChristenUnie and Volt are in favor, but do not have a majority in the House of Representatives.

The SP is not against the law in principle, but is committed to small-scale shelter. The party also fears that poor municipalities in particular will create shelters because they receive money for this. The SP fears more inequality because rich municipalities will then have to do less. The party will only make a decision after the debate.

Eyes mainly focused on BBB

Although the BBB also wants to make the law simpler, the party does not yet know whether it will support the law. The party wants a guarantee that the number of asylum applications will be limited. “Otherwise it’s like mopping with the tap open.”

Next week, eyes will mainly be focused on Caroline van der Plas, because the BBB is in any case needed for a majority in the Senate.

The VVD, which previously supported the law, also made this a demand. The party withdrew its support after the fall of the cabinet.

At national level it is virtually impossible to ensure a reduction in the number of applications. At European level, migration deals are being worked on, such as with Tunisia. But the effect of this is still pending.

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