Netherland Government Tightens Grip on Migration and Asylum

The new Dutch government introduced a number of tight policies to drastically reduce the rate of immigration into the country and shrink the opportunities for asylum seekers to get asylum in the Netherlands. One of these changes includes an overhaul of the naturalization conditions. The government will be introducing a more stringent set of requirements to become a Dutch citizen:

• Increased the level of language proficiency from A2 to B1

• Waiting period for naturalization increased to 10 years from 5 years

• Requirements for renunciation of foreign nationality by new citizens-everybody is expected to renounce his original nationality except for some exemption

The changes will make it much harder for foreign immigrants living in the country to get Dutch citizenship, with the number affected running into thousands.

Measures to Target Labor Migration

To curb labour migration, the state will introduce a set of targeted measures:

• Strict restrictions on low-skilled employment opportunities for third-country nationals

• More stringent controls of terrible conditions at work

• Incentivize a presence in labour markets by the current residents, such as family members and asylum seekers who are granted permit status

This policy would place the Dutch workforce at the forefront while simultaneously addressing concerns about exploitation and unfair competition in the labour market.

Government Must Regulate International Student Flow

The government wants to take better control over the intake of international students with a few moves as listed below:

• Limit the "Anglicisation" of Dutch higher education

• Assign universities the role of coordinating international student intake

• Strengthen the role of the Dutch in higher education

• Expand the use of fixed intake numbers for international students

These are apparently done with a sense of growing concern over the balance between the internationalization of higher education and preserving the Dutch language and culture in the academic environment.

Declaration of an 'Asylum Crisis' 

Declaring an 'asylum crisis,' the government opened itself to manage asylum seekers with temporary arrangements. The changes include;

• Family members will only be allowed permit holders after two years into residence status when such housing is 'adequate' and has a "stable and sufficient income."

• Restrictions on family reunification of adult children

• Tighter vetting for serial applications for asylum

Alteration of current legislations, among them: 

• Scrapping off the Dispersal Act

• Freezing new asylum applications

• Degradation of reception facilities

• Forced removal in a situation where the person cannot stay

These are emergency measures that have been put in place to loosen up the government's restrictions on the handling of asylum application and subsequently reduce the number of asylum seekers coming into the country.

Claiming EU Asylum Rules Opt-out: How the British Can Beat the European Migration Policy Consensus

The Dutch government has made a very bold, possibly very divisive move: requesting official exemption from regular EU asylum rules. "I have just informed the EU Commission that I want a migration opt-out within Europe for the Netherlands. We need to be in charge of our own asylum policy again!" Migration Minister Marjolein Faber told.

This opt-out is considered to fulfil a campaign promise to cut the nation's immigrants dramatically. However, an EU spokeswoman named Anitta Hipper said that an opt-out may only be allowed if treaties approve amendments. And, the spokeswoman added, such amendments are "not scheduled at present."

Enhancing Border Security and Simplifying Expulsion Procedures

Border checks will be strengthened, and the deportation process will be made easier for the illegal, and this will be supported by:

• Increasing border patrol and surveillance technology

• Simplifying the asylum claim process to expedite the processing of those who are not eligible for protection

• Cooperation with countries of origin will increase the speed of return

This will effectively reduce irregular flows and result in good management of border controls.

Impact on Ukrainian Refugees and Integration Programs

While the emphasis has been on not allowing further immigration, the government has also taken some measures on the already present in the Netherlands Ukrainian refugees:

• Maintenance of Ukrainian refugees to be self-sufficient

• Gradual ending of living allowance to those with sufficient income from work

• Integration programme

These policies demonstrate the proportionality between providing humanitarian support and offering incentives for self-sufficiency within the refugee populations.

Responses and Criticisms

The new policies have elicited mixed reactions from all the stakeholders involved in the change:

• Human rights groups lament over rights violations among asylum seekers and migrants

• Business lobbies are concerned about the labour shortages that will ensue in key sectors as a result of this policy shift.

• Some critics claim that the policies will only fuel the flames of social division and pull the Netherlands into international infamy.

Proponents, on the other hand, point out that to preserve coherence in society, these policies are inevitable in themselves and signify how the country manages its resources efficiently.

Conclusion

Such policies could have far-reaching implications for the Netherlands, for the economy of that country, and for the Netherlands in its international relations. As the country makes its way through these complex issues, the wider European and international community will watch, particularly as the new approaches towards migration and asylum start to unfold.

In fact, such steps may even have repercussions on the migration policies in Europe as a whole, given that most of the countries presently suffer from the same problem. However, legal and practical challenges in implementing some of those policies, primarily a request for an EU opt-out, show that the full impact of such developments will be felt only after some time.

However, the state of affairs will also depend on tracking and tracing the impact on stakeholders, including residents currently in place, businesses, educational institutions, and, of course, the migrants and asylum seekers themselves. Only time will tell if these policies succeed in accomplishing what they are intended to achieve or if there are unintended consequences within the larger context of international migration. To learn more about immigration policies, you must contact TerraTern right now!