Immigration & ResidencyPolitics
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Dutch Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink welcomed a statement by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the Netherlands should be able to send asylum seekers back to Italy. Von der Leyen said that all EU member states had sufficient reception capacity to make this possible. Van den Brink called the statement an important signal.
12 sources
The cabinet placed 21 additional municipalities under enhanced supervision on 5 October for failing to provide sufficient asylum reception places under the Distribution Act, bringing the total to 63 municipalities. The supervised municipalities must explain how they will meet their obligations; if they do not, the national government can take over the task of arranging reception locations at the municipality’s expense.
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.
5 sources
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the Netherlands may no longer exclude asylum applications from Ukrainians covered by temporary protection. More than 140,000 previously shelved applications must be assessed by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), adding to pressure on an agency that is already behind in its work. Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink said he did not yet know when the applications would be processed. In a letter to the House of Representatives, he said other asylum applications would be given priority.
9 sources
The Senate approved a bill ending periodic penalty payments by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) to asylum applicants whose cases are not decided within the legal time limit. Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink said he wants the measure to take effect within a week, and the IND welcomed the decision. The Senate also approved provisions making it easier to declare criminal asylum seekers undesirable and expel them, as part of the Return and Foreign Guard Act. The measures had previously been included in the rejected Asylum Emergency Measures Act. One report said the abolition of penalty payments will not resolve the IND's persistent problems.