And it’s not just the government’s fault
Shocking investigation by the Court of Audit this week: in the past 23 years, expenditure on asylum reception has been underestimated 21 times by the Ministry of Justice and Security, which is responsible for asylum reception. Last year was a record. The more than 500 million euros expected by State Secretary for Asylum Affairs Eric van der Burg (VVD) for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) was not enough, an additional billion euros was needed.
The problems go back even further than the year 2000. In 1992, a new collection system was introduced because the Lubbers cabinets had banned the influx (a word that the government is no longer allowed to use). as for Leo Lucassen) of asylum seekers more manageable. In 1995, the same Court of Audit concluded that this was not yet working properly. The ministers involved, the COA and the IND, did not get the accommodation in order even then.
Wise people repair the roof when the sun shines
Nevertheless, the influx of asylum seekers that year seemed to stay within the forecasts. The Court of Audit wrote: “Now that the influx of asylum seekers this year seems to stay within estimates for the first time since 1992, this is a good opportunity to make an extra effort to put things in order.” In other words, use relatively quiet periods to solve structural problems. A case of repairing the roof when the sun is shining.
The Netherlands is ten cabinets further
That clearly did not work. While the country is ten cabinets further (two Kok cabinets and four times Balkenende and Rutte), nothing appears to have changed. One of the major problems is scaling up and down the emergency shelter (closing, demolishing, raking and starting again) which is much more expensive than regular shelter.
The COA is still unable to indicate exactly which expenditures are linked to the upscaling and downscaling of that reception capacity, which means that it remains unknown exactly what this upscaling and downscaling has cost. It is clear, however, that this is a lot of money, given that billion extra this year and despite promises from various cabinets, according to the Court of Audit, ‘a recurrence of problems cannot be avoided’.
The viscous House of Representatives is not innocent either
This is not only due to those ten cabinets, but also to the House of Representatives in various compositions to date. Every year, high-pitched urgent debates are requested by left and right about asylum reception and poor devils on the grass of Ter Apel, while the rot is deeper and therefore structural (it looks like the IRS) is.
And don’t forget the viscosity. Last year, the House already knew that the Court of Audit would publish this report. On Tuesday, December 20, Tunahan Kuzu (DENK) already proposed to put the report on the agenda of the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Security, which deals with asylum policy, and to invite the General Auditors to a briefing. The committee will meet next Wednesday to decide on that proposal. The issue will then be discussed in the committee on Tuesday 21 February at the earliest. That’s in a month.
The entire report, including appendices, is only 28 pages long. reading time: 10 mins. Gas on that lollipop, someone mumbles on the canal.
