PVV leader Geert Wilders @geertwilderspvv speaks at first #PatriotsSummit in #Brussels. A new wind is blowing in #Europe, he says pic.twitter.com/oQ81zYep9x
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 17, 2024
On securing the cross-party agreement, Wilders said, “Today is a beautiful day,” as he hailed the development as ‘historic’ and “the toughest asylum policy ever.”
However the Dutch Council for Refugees criticised the news saying, “This ‘toughest-ever asylum policy’ is not a solution for anybody,”
Among the measures agreed upon are plans to restrict family reunification, cutting the duration of temporary visas, and moving to declare parts of Syria as safe in order to speed up dealing with applications from the country.
A draft version of the plan leaked last week which detailed plans to reduce the number of UN selected refugees the country has to accept yearly from 500 to 200.
The new rules will also remove from municipal governments the responsibility of finding homes for those in possession of asylum status, 20,000 of whom are currently accommodated in asylum centres according to the Dutch Telegraph.
The measures include an ‘asylum crisis law’ which says that those who do not possess residence permits can be forcibly deported and that a ban will be placed on giving priority to those with asylum status for access to social housing.
The term of asylum status will now no longer be a lifetime status with permits reduced to a three year period maximum.
The option to apply for reunification of adult children as well as partners who are not married will also be removed from law.
Gript previously interviewed Dr. Yan van der Beek who said that the economic cost of accommodating migrants to the Dutch exchequer was heavily dependent on their country of origin and immigration status.
Van der Beek said that asylum seekers in particular were “very costly” and that the projected cost of social welfare payouts to low skilled migrants who were less likely to engage in employment would have huge consequences for the Dutch welfare system.
He said that in the Netherlands the “net cost of immigration” is “twice as high as the net cost of ageing” referring to the economic challenges that come with Europe’s greying population.
The request for an opt-out came after Dutch newspaper The Volkskrant reported
government documents showing that an influx of 76,400 asylum seekers was expected into the country next year – with a further 78,780 asylum seekers expected to arrive in 2026.
As Gript previously reported, the paper claimed that the costs would rise in the budget to 9.4 billion in 2025 and 9.7 billion in 2026,l.
However, the media outlet also claimed that the number of asylum seekers set to arrive could be lower than predictions – adding that academics have previously criticised the ministry’s “exaggerated forecasts” regarding migration.
The paper further claims: “Even proponents of a stricter asylum policy say that it is mainly about political symbolism: the rest of the world must understand that the wind is blowing differently in the Netherlands.”
Source link : https://gript.ie/netherlands-reaches-historic-deal-to-stem-mass-migration/
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Publish date : 2024-10-29 17:21:00
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