It took no less than 223 days for the Netherlands to form its current right-wing government. In the process, the PVV leader Geert Wilders had to give up his ambitions to become Prime Minister and former intel chief Dick Schoof was chosen instead.
But it’s starting to look like it may have been worth the wait, as the new government is fulfilling its promises when it comes to the hot European issue of the moment, the fight against illegal immigration.
Today, the Dutch government announced ‘unprecedented measures’ to curtail migration, including ‘re-introduction of border checks.’
These changes make the Netherlands the latest European nation to adopt a tougher stance against migration at a moment when anti-illegal migrant sentiment is rising all over the continent.
Associated Press reported:
“Among the measures that will be swiftly sent to parliament for approval are a move to restrict family members who can join a person who has been granted asylum in the Netherlands, cutting the length of temporary visas and declaring parts of civil war-ravaged Syria safe so that authorities can reject asylum applications from migrants from those regions. Syrians form the largest national group among migrants arriving in the Netherlands.”
This new stance follows a meeting by European Union leaders trying to tackle migration, breaking away from a decade of suicidal migrant policies, and turn the bloc into a ‘Fortress Europe.’
Even migrant-friendly Germany introduced some border checks and the new quasi-conservative French government has also promised a novel approach to migration.
“’We want to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible,’ said Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, who is a member of nationalist, anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders’ party that dominates the government.
‘Today is a beautiful day’, said Wilders. The powerful leader of his Party for Freedom hailed the measures as historic and ‘the toughest asylum policy ever’.”
The Dutch Cabinet finally agreed on a package after Wilders and other leaders negotiated into the early hours to decide on a compromise.
“Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the moves aim at ‘reducing the inflow, accelerating the outflow, returning those who are not lawfully staying and getting the asylum chain back in order and thus reducing the pressure on society.’”
As one would expect, The Dutch Council for Refugees said that the new measures ‘would not solve the problems in the Netherlands.’
Wilders’ election victory last year ushered the rightwing into government pledging to control migration but has been debating ever since over how to quickly implement changes, whether to use crisis legislation bypassing parliament or a ‘fast-track legislation’ to be voted by parliament.
“Friday’s measures are not the first step taken by the Dutch coalition. In September, Faber wrote to European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson seeking an opt-out from EU migration rules. Faber insisted that the government needed to ‘drastically reduce the volume of migration to the Netherlands, in order to continue to fulfill our constitutional duties — providing for public housing, healthcare and education’.”
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