Earlier this month the SNBN, a foundation which lobbies for better rights for Dutch nationals who live abroad, held its annual campaign day in The Hague. The event included a panel discussion about legislation which would allow Dutch expats to retain their Dutch nationality if they adopted a second one – and which would also clear the way for more foreigners who become Dutch to keep their original passports as well.
The legislation, drawn up by D66 and the former Labour party, PvdA, has been around for almost 10 years but was dusted off again last year. It should have been debated in parliament in June but that was postponed to October. Now the debate has again been delayed – this time to December 7.
Should all the foreign nationals in the Netherlands who pay tax, contribute to society and would like to become Dutch but can’t because of practical considerations be cheering? Is the country really about to align with most of the rest of Europe and allow dual citizenship? Not at all. If the SNBN panel discussion made anything clear, it is that the VVD – part of the current coalition administration – is not in favour of allowing foreigners dual nationality at all.
Security risk
After all, as MP Bente Becker told the panel, they could be foreign agents, using their diaspora to do the work of foreign governments and posing a security risk. “If you come to the Netherlands, you have to really opt for the Netherlands,” she said. “Being a Dutch citizen,” she added, “is something very special.”
Becker made it clear that without change, her party will not support the legislation – which means, once again, it will either go on the back burner, or the part about extending dual nationality rights to foreigners will be cut out. The CDA, she said, thinks the same way.
D66 MP Jan Schoonis was extremely coy when pressed several times about whether he would be prepared to butcher his party’s bill. “We are here to talk about Dutch people abroad and that is what we are going to organise,” he told the audience. “Everything else we will talk about later.” Not exactly a promising answer.
Exceptions to the rule
I was able to get a Dutch passport while keeping my British one in the wake of Brexit because I am married to a Dutchman and have lived here for over 15 years. I am one of the lucky ones, along with the over-65s who have lived here for a long period, and children who were born here and stayed until the age of 18.
In fact, around 50% of the people becoming Dutch do so by using one of these escape clauses – known as the optieregeling. You opt in to become Dutch. The rest, however, have no choice but to go for naturalisatie and give up their original nationality – with all the problems that can entail.
Discrimination
Legal experts argue that it would be discriminatory to allow people who are originally Dutch to have more than one passport but not new Dutch nationals, and the Council of State, the government’s highest legal authority, has also said that treating people differently would conflict with the constitution.
But the debate about dual citizenship in the Netherlands is not about the legal situation. It is about the loyalty of immigrant groups. Research from 2017 by Maastricht University indicates that the Dutch themselves are more tolerant of Dutch emigrants taking on a second nationality than of immigrants to the Netherlands becoming Dutch and retaining their original one.
The situation is unlikely to have improved since then, given the further rise of the far right.
Anti-foreigner feelings
What the VVD are saying is that Dutch people who are born in the Netherlands and have Dutch parents can have two nationalities without any problem if they move abroad, but those people wishing to become Dutch need to be regarded with suspicion – they must have an ulterior, and possibly sinister, motive if they want to keep their original passports as well.
It’s indicative of the current anti-foreigner sentiment running through large chunks of Dutch society. And it’s a sad reflection on the Netherlands and its “very special” passports.
Do you want to become Dutch and are you faced with giving up your original nationality, or have you already done so? Or have you decided against such a step? We’d like to hear your stories for an article. Please have your say on our social media channels or email, in complete confidence, editor@dutchnews.nl
