The Netherlands has had a tough asylum policy for years. Now the right-wing government is tightening it up again. Politicians in Germany are planning something similar.
Amsterdam – The Netherlands wants to completely cut off social benefits for asylum seekers who are required to leave the country. This was announced by Dutch Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber, according to the German Press Agency (dpa) “From January 1, 2025, the state contribution for the accommodation of people who should have left the country long ago will be stopped,” said the politician from the “Party for Freedom” (PVV) of the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders.
Asylum seekers in the Netherlands: Bed-bath-bread regulation in five major cities to be overturned
According to Faber, she has consulted with five Dutch cities about tightening the asylum regulations. From next year, the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Groningen will be free to continue providing the minimum care for refugees in accordance with the bed-bath-bread rule at their own expense. “I am committed to return and not to subsidized accommodation,” said Faber.
The regulation on the absolute minimum provision of rejected asylum seekers in emergency accommodation was intended to ensure that they would not cause nuisance as homeless people, reported the dpaThis procedure was actually intended as an interim step until the persons concerned were deported. So far, the government has spent around 30 million euros in state funds for this purpose, reported the Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
As expected, Wilders celebrated the end of the minimum benefits on X. “Very good, no more state contributions for municipal bed, bath and bread facilities for illegal immigrants who have to leave the country,” wrote the right-wing populist. However, there seems to be some resistance to the right-wing governing party’s initiative. Amsterdam announced that it would continue to provide the services at least until 2025.
Wilders promises the Netherlands “strictest asylum policy we have ever had”
The planned tightening of the asylum system in the Netherlands comes as little surprise. When presenting a coalition plan last May, Wilders announced: “Many things will change in the Netherlands: the strictest asylum policy we have ever had,” he was quoted as saying. ZDF Today.
For the right-wing populist, Asylum policy and the fight against Islam are the most central issues in the election campaign for the 2023 parliamentary elections. “People’s hope is that they will get their country back. That the Dutch will be at the top again. That we will limit the asylum tsunami and migration,” chanted the party leader on election night.
His radical approach brought Wilders a clear victory in the parliamentary elections. With 23.6 percent of all votes, the far-right party won 35 of the 150 seats in parliament. However, the formation of a government initially failed due to a lack of coalition partners. It was only about seven months later that a four-party coalition was able to take over the government – but Wilders had to give up the post of prime minister.
Cuts for asylum seekers required to leave the country – FDP politician calls for tough action
In Germany, too, there is intense discussion about cutting social benefits for asylum seekers who are required to leave the country. FDP politician Joachim Stamp recently demanded that people who are immediately required to leave the country “only receive a ticket for the flight home and a small start-up grant of a few hundred euros after arrival in the destination country”The former NRW Integration Minister told the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
For Stamp, this is an important step to curb migration in Germany. A ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, according to which the German state must finance a minimum subsistence level for every person in the country, actually prohibits such an approach. “If necessary, we must also consider an amendment to the Basic Law at this point,” said the FDP politician. Similar demands were also made by the CDU and CSU parties.
Social associations are warning against radical cuts for asylum seekers. The Pro Asyl association criticised in an article that the demand for ever more radical cuts means that the asylum issue is not being seriously addressed. Furthermore, these proposals are “social policy poison because they attack the basic values of our constitution”. (nhi/dpa)
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