The Christian Democrats will only support tough new asylum laws if the government agrees to clarify the clause on illegality, CDA senator Madeleine van Toorenburg has said ahead of Monday and Tuesday’s upper chamber debates on the legislation.
One of the two laws, introduced by far-right former asylum minister Marjolein Faber, will make it a criminal offence to be in the Netherlands without proper papers. Both laws were passed by MPs and will now be scrutinised by the senate.
The plans include cutting refugee residency permits from five to three years, making family reunions more difficult, and making a distinction between refugees fleeing war and those who face persecution.
The six CDA senators, whose support will be crucial in the vote April 21, are particularly critical of the paragraph dealing with the legal consequences of illegality.
Current asylum minister Bart van den Brink must clarify the scope of the paragraph, which has been amended before to exclude people who help illegal immigrants, Van Toorenburg said.
Van Toorenburg wants confirmation from the minister that punishment by law will be restricted to the “group of aliens who can but won’t cooperate when told to leave by effectively frustrating efforts to achieve their departure”.
“That would mean that this can only happen to asylum seekers who have gone through a painstaking and complete procedure and who then refuse to go voluntarily. That would be in line with our election manifesto,” the Volkskrant quoted Van Toorenburg as saying.
Van den Brink will also have to answer questions about the legal and practical feasibility of the two-tier system which the legislation also introduces. Refugee settlement agency COA said the new laws will lead to more appeals and the need for more housing for refugees, which is difficult to find as it is.
The agency has a short-term shortage of 4,500 places, and up to 8,000 by the end of the summer. Closures will boost that number to 38,000 in the next 18 months.
Van den Brink told current affairs programme Nieuwsuur he would “ultimately” have to force local councils to make room for asylum seekers. “That is what the law demands of me. They have got to work with me to create accommodation,” he said.
Most local councils offer too few places to asylum seekers as set out in law, and over 100 local councils refuse to comply at all. If they continue to do so, they can eventually be put under “active ministerial supervision”, meaning the government will allocate places there, the minister said.
