There is again disagreement within the cabinet about the distribution law. Sources around the coalition report this News hour. The elaboration of the law was to be sent to the House of Representatives by today at the latest, but that deadline has not been met. The VVD would not agree with the way in which municipalities should implement the law.
The distribution law must ensure that asylum seekers are distributed fairly among municipalities and that municipalities that do not want to cooperate can be forced to receive asylum seekers. The law has been delayed several times due to discussions between coalition parties.
Coercion in particular was a hot topic in the negotiations. It led to great tensions within the VVD party, but at the beginning of this year all parties finally agreed. But now the VVD seems to have reservations. The party believes that the coercive element has been included in the law too strongly, sources report.
“The law as such has been completely negotiated. The VVD agrees. The disagreement is about the underlying texts in the law that municipalities must comply with,” said political commentator Arjan Noorlander. “A law that had to be passed quickly has now again not been sent to the House in full.”
A hearing that was to take place tomorrow on the law in the House of Representatives has been called off.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Justice and Security) actually wanted the distribution law to take effect this year to prevent a repeat of the chaos in Ter Apel last summer. This has been postponed to 1 January 2024, but it is also very important to the State Secretary that the law is dealt with quickly in order to meet that effective date.
Do not select again
Earlier tonight it was announced that the cabinet wants municipalities to stop selecting certain groups of asylum seekers that they do and do not want, for example families versus single men. If they continue to do so, the cabinet itself will still place these asylum seekers in the empty places that exist, State Secretary Eric van der Burg of Asylum Affairs reports in a letter to parliament.
“In the most extreme case, asylum seekers will be accommodated – if necessary unsolicited – at reception locations that apply restrictions,” writes Van der Burg.
New emergency plan
The State Secretary has also drawn up an emergency plan to prevent the reception in Ter Apel from getting out of hand again. Van der Burg no longer wants asylum seekers to have to sleep outside or in a tent, as happened regularly last year.
The situation in Ter Apel is becoming dire again and the maximum occupancy of 2000 asylum seekers has almost been reached.
State Secretary Van der Burg explains the new measures here:
2023-05-24 19:26:08
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