“We are seeing the effects of the package, we cannot talk about specific numbers at the moment. But there is no doubt that the package as a whole will have an impact on the number of people arriving in the Netherlands and the number of people leaving,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof was quoted as saying by MTI. At the same time, he defended the repeal of legislation requiring the Netherlands to leave the country. Municipalities receive a fair proportion of refugees.
He also said that if the new State Department report on Syria classified certain areas of the Arab country as safe, the status of refugees coming from there could be revoked.
Turning to the border controls planned from the end of November, the Prime Minister stressed that the measures will be “in line with those introduced by Germany and France,” and they also agreed that economic deliveries are an exception to the controls.
These steps aim to stop illegal immigration and deport those who have already applied for refugee status in another European country.
He added.
Referring to the refugee status, Schoof said that the duration of his stay would be a maximum of three years, and at the end of that, the asylum application would be re-evaluated by the authorities. In addition, the government will also reduce migrants' access to housing, giving them housing units instead, as well as reduce legislation related to family reunification.
The package must be discussed by both houses of Parliament. The government led by the Party for Freedom (PVV) initially tried to temporarily override the legislation, but was unable to prove a “state of emergency” as a justification, so the rulings must follow the usual legal path.
Although the leader of the Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, had previously expected the disintegration of the government coalition if the state of emergency was not accepted, he said after the announcement that “it is not important how the provisions enter into force, what is important is that they enter into force.”
(Cover photo: Jerry Lambin/AFP)
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