NETHERLANDS: New Coalition Agreement: Overview of Measures Relating to Asylum and Migration

On 16 May, the four political parties that will form the next government published their coalition agreement.

The document titled ‘Hope, Courage and Pride’ was agreed between the Party for Freedom (PVV), the Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) and the New Social Contract  (NSC).

The measures that are planned in the area of asylum and migration are set out in a section titled ‘Getting a grip on asylum and migration’ which includes the following headlines translated from Dutch):

1. Activation of the “exception provision” of the 2000 Aliens Act
2. Introduction of a temporary Asylum Crisis Act
3. Submission of a request for an opt-out from the Common European Asylum System
4. Transformation into one of the EU member states with the “strictest admission rules in Europe”
5. Introduction of measures to manage “other” forms of migration

ECRE member organisations the Dutch Council for Refugees and the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF) have issued statements on the coalition agreement.

The coalition agreement is available here, the Dutch Council for Refugees statement is available here and the Foundation for Refugee Students statement is available here (all in Dutch).