Dutch anti-mass migration leader Geert Wilders celebrated as laws mandating a crackdown on asylum seekers in the Netherlands passed parliament, but warned there was more to be done.
New laws criminalising being an illegal migrant passed the lower house of the Dutch parliament on Thursday because opposition members failed to turn up to the vote to oppose it. Among the provisions included in the bills and a last-minute amendment that considerably strengthened several areas of the proposed laws, the length of a temporary asylum status decision will be cut from five years to three, and the awarding of new asylum permits is being suspended “indefinitely”.
There are also new conditions that will make chain migration — recently arrived asylum seekers using their status to legally bring over their families — much harder, and removing priority status from migrations for social housing. It also becomes illegal to be in the Netherlands without holding a valid visa or asylum status: in other words, being an illegal migrant will become illegal.
Geert Wilders, the right-wing anti-mass migration and anti-Islamification hardliner who leads the largest party in the Dutch government praised the bill passing, calling it a “great week” for his Party for Freedom. But Mr Wilders said the progress was “not enough” and the next steps should be a “100% asylum freeze”, sending back Syrian migrants now the country’s war is over, and deporting what he called “riffraff”.
Noting some political authorities have promised to boycott the law and refuse to implement it, Mr Wilders hit back saying the law of the land also “applies to extreme left-wing crazies” and said they should be prosecuted if attempts are made to frustrate implementation in the future.
The bill passed the lower house of the Dutch Parliament by 95 votes to 55. It probably wouldn’t have passed, states Dutch broadcaster NOS, except several opposition lawmakers didn’t turn up to the late-night session to oppose it.
The law now has to be voted on by the Senate, and given Parliament now breaks up for recess this won’t happen until after Summer, meaning the final decision on the law won’t take place until just before the forthcoming Dutch snap elections, which are due to be dominated by debates on immigration policy already. Doubtless, having this law up for confirmation so soon before the election will intensify that discussion.
A large measure of controversy attached to the migration law comes down to what may be considered anti-NGO clauses, where anyone providing assistance to illegal migrants would be committing a crime themselves and could face jail time. Politicians opposing these provisions have called it a law for “soup police”, given it is questioned whether handing over a bowl of soup or slice of bread to a hungry migrant would be criminalised.
The exact threshold for this is to be debated by the Council of State.
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