Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) leader Caroline van der Plas criticised excessive polarisation concerning the migration debate within political circles in a parliamentary discussion on Wednesday and called for more realistic measures to be implemented.
During the debate, lawmakers discussed a proposed ‘cash-for-housing’ asylum bill, which aims to distribute asylum seekers across Dutch municipalities by offering monetary incentives.
After its landslide victory in the regional elections back in March, BBB is set to play a big role in deciding whether the law will be accepted by the Senate due to its broad representation in the body.
“I’m getting totally sick of it, we are driving people in the Netherlands crazy with this polarisation,” Van der Plas stated during the debate.
“As far as BBB is concerned, we should start looking annually at how many genuine asylum seekers the Netherlands can reasonably cope with while maintaining a broad social base,” she added, pleading for a cap of 50 to 100 asylum seekers per municipality.
Van der Plas’ statements came after MP Wybren van Haga (Groep Van Haga) stated that the proposed spread law may lead to Dutch citizens being evicted from their homes, despite no stipulation in the law’s draft text.
“The government […] is now even forcing municipalities to take in asylum seekers, even if it means requisitioning buildings and maybe even citizens’ homes,” he stated.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg (VVD/Renew) welcomed Van der Plas’ comments, stating that he was “extremely happy with part of her contribution” as well as her calls to “speak normally” about the topic of asylum.
The heated debate comes as the country continues grappling with a high influx of asylum seekers while also struggling to ramp up housing construction. Just last month, Housing and Spatial Planning Minister Hugo de Jonge (CDA/EPP) warned that the country may fail to meet its housing construction targets due to spiralling migration numbers.
(Benedikt Stöckl | EURACTIV.com)
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