Immigration & ResidencyPolitics
◆1 source
The municipality of Aalten is taking asylum minister Bart van den Brink to court in Arnhem this week over the mandatory reception of 200 asylum seekers. Aalten considers that number too high.
19 sources
The government placed 21 additional municipalities under active supervision for failing to provide the asylum reception places required under the Distribution Act, bringing the total to 63. Municipalities under supervision must explain how they will meet their obligations; if they do not, the national government can ultimately take over the task of arranging reception.
8 sources
The cabinet presented a bill under which rejected asylum seekers and other foreign nationals without a right to remain could face up to six months in prison or a fine of up to €5,500 if they actively obstruct their return to their country of origin. Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink described the measure as a last resort at the end of the asylum process, after other options have been exhausted. The proposal replaces a broader plan to criminalise irregular residence that failed in the First Chamber in April. Amsterdam alderman Zita Pels and Utrecht alderman Matthijs Sienot criticised the proposal. Pels said it amounted to a disguised criminalisation of irregular residence, while Sienot said criminalisation would not solve the problem. Pels said Amsterdam and other large municipalities had written to the minister over concerns about the effects of the bill.
12 sources
Twenty asylum seekers slept outside in the rain at the registration centre in Ter Apel during the night from Thursday to Friday after both the centre and emergency night shelters had reached capacity. The Red Cross and VluchtelingenWerk attributed this to a shortage of reception places. The Red Cross said it limited access to night shelter to people already known from day reception after safety incidents, while the COA described the situation as very painful. No one slept outside on the following two nights, although the two night shelters in Zuidwolde and Warffum had reached their combined maximum of 150 people. The municipality of Groningen is to provide 100 temporary beds from Wednesday at an existing emergency shelter on Europaweg for families with young children from Ter Apel. The places were arranged at the request of the Ministry of Asylum and Migration and are initially intended for three weeks. Pressure on the Ter Apel registration centre remains high.
7 sources
JA21 and SGP made support for the cabinet’s tax plan and ministry budgets conditional on asylum and migration measures. They sought a firm commitment that municipalities will not be forced under the Distribution Act to receive asylum seekers. They also called for a rapid reassessment of tens of thousands of Syrians with temporary residence status, asylum procedures outside the Netherlands and a faster fall in asylum arrivals. The parties also demanded lower burdens for citizens. After meeting Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink, JA21 leader Joost Eerdmans said the parties had not moved closer on the central dispute. Van den Brink said the Distribution Act must be implemented but that he expects agreement with municipalities to make coercion unnecessary; Eerdmans sought a promise that it will not be used. Eerdmans said JA21’s final vote will depend on the overall package, with the tax plan due for a vote on 12 November. Van den Brink said he expects to continue working with JA21 on asylum and migration.