Dutch Council of State against scrapping asylum distribution law
In the media image: COA
The Council of State has advised the House of Representatives not to proceed with repealing the Distribution Act. Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor of Immigration Law, comments on the case on BNR.
The Council of State has serious objections to the draft bill tabled by JA21, FVD, the Markuszower Group, Mona Keijzer and BBB to repeal the Distribution Act (Spreidingswet). These parties argue that political attention is focused too much on the reception of asylum seekers and not enough on limiting their entry. The Council of State considers the link between the distribution of asylum seekers and the inflow of refugees, as claimed by the parties, to be problematic.
Klaassen describes the opinion of the Advisory Division of the Council of State as ‘the most negative advice possible’. He argues that scrapping the Distribution Act would create an unmanageable situation.
He also says it is too early to draw conclusions about legislation that came into force only two years ago: ‘Give the law time.’ The government already indicated when introducing the legislation that it would not work perfectly straight away. Central government, provinces and municipalities need time to make the system work properly. ‘If you repeal the law now, you'll end up with erratic policy’, Klaassen concludes.
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Read the full article on BNR or listen to the radio item (in Dutch)