Will helping illegal immigrants soon be a crime?
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The Dutch PVV party has proposed a legislative amendment that would make helping illegal immigrants a criminal offence. Joanne van der Leun, Professor of Criminology, spoke to NRC newspaper about the criminalisation of illegality: ‘It’s absurd.’
In the last week before the start of the parliamentary summer recess, the PVV proposed an amendment to the asylum emergency measures legislation (in Dutch). The most controversial part of the proposed amendment concerns ‘people or organisations who help illegal immigrants go into hiding’. The change to the legislation would mean that these individuals could also be subject to prosecution.
According to Professor Van der Leun, it would only be possible to criminalise assistance to illegal immigrants if there is a serious and urgent problem, but that’s not the case at present. The professor predicts that municipalities will encounter problems as a result of the change to the legislation: ‘You’re talking about the criminalisation of organisations that serve as the last safety net, while there is already significant pressure on institutions that care for people who fall through the cracks.’
More information?
Read the full article in NRC newspaper (€, in Dutch)