Dutch parties are divided over the government’s new asylum bill proposal, which, if adopted in its current form, would provide financial compensation to municipalities providing accommodation to asylum seekers.
While the coalition now backs the new bill, party members have had mixed feelings over what the bill entails. The bill’s latest version writes that municipalities that provide accommodation for asylum seekers will receive financial compensation, and those that do not voluntarily offer places will be forced to provide them.
But the bill did not receive full support from all coalition parties from the start.
On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ruling VVD party was the only party in the ruling coalition to oppose the bill, saying it preferred to explore ways to limit migration flows to the country rather than oblige municipalities to receive their fair share of asylum seekers. The VVD changed its mind the following day.
“More needs to be done to bring the #[asylum influx] down. We simply cannot handle 1,000 asylum seekers a week. By increasing international pressure, stricter border security and making the Netherlands less attractive. That has the highest priority,” tweeted VVD MP Ruben Brekelmans.
Members of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) expressed similar thoughts. “The next task is to get a grip on migration and drastically reduce the influx. To maintain support for migration,” tweeted CDA MP Rene Peters.
On the side of the Socialist Party, members have compared the financial compensation municipalities would receive for housing asylum seekers to bribery. “The proposal to give municipalities money for reception amounts to bribery and turns the asylum seeker into a cash cow,” said Socialist Party MP Jasper van Dijk.
At the same time, the Christian Union (CU) has shown a lot of support for the bill.
“The bill announced will ensure that there are structurally sufficient and dignified places and that all municipalities participate,” wrote CU MP Don Ceder.
According to him, the bill would end the current reception crisis, which has seen an overflow of migration reception centres in the country.
Since the VVD changed its mind, the entire coalition is on board with the bill, meaning there is now sufficient support for the bill to be passed by the House of Representatives.
(Sofia Stuart Leeson | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
