1 week Ago
The result is uncertain, as the EPP and PVV opposed such a law, and the right-wing PVV and the opposition party CDA have not indicated their support for the bill, leaving the future of the proposed legislation in doubt.
The dispute centered on two main proposals: the asylum emergency measures legislation and the dual status plan, which was initially developed by ex-PVV minister Marjolein Faber.
These laws are intended to decrease the flow of asylum seekers into the country, yet without support from the PVV and CDA, they might not be able in order to be approved through both houses of parliament.
PVV Demands Tougher Action
Even the leader of the PVV Geert Wilders, who previously described the asylum reforms as "the strictest asylum policy ever", is calling for more stringent measures.
MP Vondeling of the PVV in the debate called for: the withdrawal of the dispersal law immediately, declaring illegality by undocumented and no compromise with the original Faber proposals.
These demands are not covered by the existing bills, which the government is unwilling to meet.
CDA Requests Time, Cites Fears of Non-implementation
The CDA too empathizes with a tougher asylum policy in the abstract but hasn’t quite made the leap for reasons of practicality. Party leader Henri Bontenbal warned that the IND, which was already overburdened, risked failing to implement the regulations.
He called for a few-month pause before lawmakers approved them. “I need to be confident that something is going to work two, three, four years from now,” he said.
But as a major player in the Senate, the CDA’s decision could dictate the fate of the laws.
Coalition Pushes Forward Without Concessions
Amidst this push for fast approval from the VVD, NSC, and BBB, there is considerable resistance. With an election in sight, they are keen to demonstrate to the electorate that they are doing something about asylum.
Ministers Mona Keijzer (BBB) and David van Weel (NSC) have resisted wholesale changes to the bills, despite more than 50 proposed amendments. Most were rejected.
Although Keijzer stated that work on reforming dispersal law is underway, she would not commit to a new policy in the short term. And like Van Weel, he had no interest in making lawlessness a crime.
Tense Days Ahead
Votes on the amendments are expected Tuesday, with final votes on the full bills expected Thursday.
Opposition parties GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, and SP are dead set against the proposal, while small Christian party ChristenUnie is still on the fence, making the support of PVV and CDA indispensable. Their fate is also of great uncertainty for the asylum laws.
