Populist Wilders Vows to Collapse Dutch Gov’t if Border Remains Open to ‘Asylum Seekers’

Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders has vowed to withdraw from the Dutch coalition government if his partner parties fail to implement strict migration controls within the next “few weeks”.

Wilders, who leads the largest faction in the Hague, said that his populist party’s “patience has run out” on the issue of migration, asylum seeking, and deportations in a press conference on Monday.

The veteran populist politician became the effective kingmaker after his Party for Freedom won a stunning victory in late 2023 and later entered into a coalition with the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) party, the New Social Contract (NCC), and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) last year.

“We have not signed for a cabinet where only asylum seeker centres will be added,” Wilders said, according to broadcaster NOS. “The PVV has been very reasonable and patient over the past year, but as of today, the gloves are going off.”

The PVV leader issued a list of policy demands, which he said coalition partners must agree upon within “a few weeks.” Otherwise, he will withdraw and collapse the government, likely sparking fresh elections.

Principally, Wilders called for the Dutch border to be shut down for those arriving and claiming asylum, which he argues they have no right to do, given that they largely enter from fellow EU nations such as Belgium and Germany. To enforce this, he called for the military and reservists to protect the border.

Additionally, he said that the so-called “family reunification” scheme, otherwise known as chain migration, in which migrants bring family members to the country, must be at least temporarily ended. Wilders also demanded that migrants with residence permits be stripped of their priority for government-funded housing and be removed from asylum seeker centres, saying, “Just find your own place.”

The Dutch leader demanded increased deportations, saying that all migrants convicted of serious crimes must have their residence status revoked and be removed from the country. Those with dual citizenship convicted of violent or sex crimes must have their Dutch passports taken away and be deported.

Now that the civil war has ended and the Assad regime has fallen, Syrian asylum seekers must be sent back home, Wilders said, arguing that most of the country should be considered safe for returns. He said this would remove around 60,000 people from the Netherlands.

Wilders has argued that such measures can be accomplished mainly by using emergency migration powers to avoid diktats from the EU, as has been recently done in Germany. While it is questionable if the current state of migration would qualify, with illegal entries down over last year, it is rare for the EU Commission to prevent member states from declaring migration emergencies.

It remains to be seen if the coalition partners will accept the fresh demands from Wilders. On Tuesday, the supposedly centre-right VVD and NSC parties expressed scepticism, arguing that the government should stick to previous plans to cut migration laid out by PVV Migration Minister Marjolein Faber. Wilders retorted that “the time for bending to the NSC faction is over as far as we are concerned.”

However, the populist pro-farmer BBB party expressed willingness to discuss the plans, with leader Caroline van der Plas saying that she is “always willing to talk about everything” and favours some of the proposals. Wilders acknowledged that implementing some of the measures will take time, but he said that if decisions are not made within the next few weeks, “the PVV is gone.”