Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ruling VVD party is the only party in the ruling coalition to oppose a bill that would oblige municipalities to receive their fair share of asylum seekers as it prefers to explore ways to limit migration flows to the country.
The Dutch coalition, which consists of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Democrats 66, Christian Democratic Appeal, and the Christian Union, failed to agree on a new asylum law that would make it easier to oblige municipalities to receive asylum seekers.
In a letter sent to the president of the House of Representatives of the States General, State Secretary for Justice and Security Eric van der Burg wrote that, despite all efforts, “there is currently no finalised bill that can be submitted for consultation.”
“Discussions on the bill are still ongoing. As soon as there is a conclusion, I will inform your House about this,” he added.
The VVD prefers to focus on discussing ways to limit the migration influx into the Netherlands rather than obliging municipalities to accommodate people and are not happy with the lack of measures proposed to limit the influx, NOS reported.
“This is embarrassing. The asylum crisis should be solved quickly, but the VVD is delaying any measure. We are waiting for several months now, and three deadlines are passed,” Socialist Party MP Jasper van Dijk told EURACTIV.
“If there is no solution this week, I predict a crisis,” he added.
In the Netherlands, more than 10,000 asylum seeker applications were filed in the third quarter of 2022, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on 30 October.
(Sofia Stuart Leeson | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
