(Bloomberg) -- The Dutch government promised to strengthen border controls and threatened deportations as it unveiled what it said were the country’s strictest ever migration policies.
Under a new crisis law, the cabinet plans to freeze decisions on asylum applications, and, if necessary, forcibly deport people without a residence permit.
The move comes on the heels of a similar decision by Germany to toughen border restrictions as political tensions over immigration across western Europe escalate.
In the Netherlands, controversy around immigration toppled former Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet last year. It was a major topic in the subsequent election, which was won by the Freedom Party of far-right politician Geert Wilders. It has the highest number of ministries in the new cabinet, which was installed in July.
“The Netherlands can’t cope with the large numbers of migrants,” Marjolein Faber, Minister of Asylum and Migration and a member of the Freedom Party, said Friday. “We are taking measures to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible for asylum seekers.”
While Wilders secured the most seats in the 2023 election, he was forced to abandon his bid to become prime minister in order to forge alliances for a government. The leaders of the four parties in the coalition agreed to stay out of the cabinet and instead picked former spy chief Dick Schoof as premier.
One major hurdle for the new government is the European Union’s Migration and Asylum Pact, which member states have agreed to follow. Faber on Friday repeated the cabinet’s aim to seek an opt-out, and Schoof said the government will officially make a request next week.
Asked about the Dutch plans, EU spokesperson Eric Mamer said the European Commission is focused on the implementation of the pact.
“You don’t opt out of adopted legislation in the EU,” he told reporters Friday, adding that all countries are required to submit implementation plans by December.
--With assistance from Jorge Valero.
(Updates with EU migration pact starting in seventh paragraph)
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