Why local parties cannot block asylum centres in the Netherlands
In the media image: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Parties opposed to asylum reception centres won local elections, but often failed to deliver on promises to keep asylum seekers out. Professor of Local Government Geerten Boogaard says anti-azc parties may resist the 'Spreidingswet', but cannot block reception centres.
In Reformatorisch Dagblad, the professor says that municipalities are legally allowed to offer little or no capacity for asylum reception during consultations with provincial authorities. ‘You can think what you like of that, but opposing government policy is also part of a democratic system,’ he says. Nevertheless, he adds that this approach is not in line with the aim of the Spreidingswet (Dispersal Act), which is based on cooperation and solidarity between municipalities.
Boogaard expects that municipalities will ultimately have little choice but to cooperate if the minister intervenes. ‘A municipality cannot promise that there will be no asylum reception centre, because ultimately that’s not their decision to take,’ he says. Municipalities, Boogaard continues, mainly want to show that they are not taking the initiative themselves, while at the same time trying to avoid losing control of the process altogether.
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Read the full article in Reformatorisch Dagblad (€, in Dutch)