Universiteit Leiden

nl en

Dutch asylum policy remains thorny issue

The Hague has announced that 70,000 refugees are expected to come to the Netherlands this year. How can situations like at the Ter Apel asylum centre - where asylum seekers had to sleep outside due to a lack of space - be prevented.

EU law is leading

With the dispersal policy seemingly not getting off the ground, some parties are now calling for a migration freeze. 'But that's far from realistic,' says Mark Klaasen, Associate Professor of Immigration Law, in Leiden and member of the government Advisory Committee on Migration on NPO Radio 1. 'I would go so far as to say that 90 percent of Dutch immigration law is determined by EU law. So the Netherlands is no longer in charge of pushing the "buttons" to limit the influx.'

Visa

According to Klaassen, a good solution would be if it were actually made easier for people to come here. 'If people can come here with a visa, they might also be more willing to go back. If they have given all their money to a people smuggler and risked their lives in a boat, you can imagine that they are not willing to go back.'

This website uses cookies.  More information.