International

The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has been responsible for the asylum policy since 2012. The reception of refugees has been neglected to such an extent that it has culminated in the refugee crisis that the Netherlands now finds itself in. Hundreds of people, including children, have been forced to sleep outside in tents for many nights in Ten Apel. At the same time, the government designated a location in the tiny village of Albergen as a site for the reception of hundreds of refugees without any prior notification. This has to change.

Today, Socialist Party Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk will present a plan for the fair reception of refugees: “In 10 years’ time, the Rutten cabinets have made a gigantic mess of the reception of refugees. Asylum seekers’ centres have been closed throughout the country and personnel dismissed. In the meanwhile, the housing shortage, capricious financing, nuisance and a failing return policy have resulted in many municipalities, understandably, no longer being willing to receive refugees. With our plan, we are going to put an end to this mess that Rutten and his cronies have created.”

There is a large support base for the reception of refugees, but there are also concerns about how this is being carried out.  Large-scale reception in tiny villages leads to unrest - as well as an unsafe situation as a result of nuisance caused by asylum seekers. It is vitally important to find a solution for this. The Socialist Party wants a more realistic immigration policy with a fair distribution of refugees across Europe and in the Netherlands.
Our proposals

The Socialist Party presents a number of proposals to put end to the refugee crisis. The essence of this is the fair distribution of refugees across all municipalities by way of small-scale reception.

1. All municipalities shall contribute proportionately - The most affluent 25% of the municipalities are currently offering protection to 3,300 refugees and the least affluent 25% are providing asylum to 11,000 refugees.  This is not fair, precisely in the most affluent municipalities there is more social-economic capacity to be able to properly receive refugees. That is why the Socialist Party wants all municipalities to contribute proportionately in the reception of eligible asylum seekers. In this proposal, asylum seekers are distributed according to the size of the population of each municipality.
2. Responsibility and freedom for municipalities - The Socialist Party proposes that municipalities are given more freedom to organise the reception of asylum seekers as they see fit. This means that the requirement for the minimal reception of 300 people shall no longer apply. This number should sooner apply as a maximum. With small-scale reception, the impact on the surrounding area remains limited, the level of support shall be maintained and refugees will be able to integrate more quickly.
3. A fair distribution across the municipalities - It is largely the less affluent communities that contribute more to the reception of holders of residence permits. We advocate a fair distribution of refugees across the municipalities, which takes into account the so-called capacity of those communities (income, composition, facilities, etc.).
4. Maintaining an emergency buffer - In order to prevent a new refugee crisis, we advocate that an emergency buffer of reception locations is kept available - during the quiet periods. This will ensure that the government will not need to fall back on emergency reception locations in busier times and proper reception for everyone.

Illegitimate asylum seekers
When asylum is denied, illegitimate asylum seekers must be returned to their country of origin as quickly as possible. The Netherlands is failing in this regard, with people who are not entitled to reside in the Netherlands staying here anyway. If they also cause disturbance, it is totally understandable that local residents complain.

Expedited integration for legitimate asylum seekers
There must more attention for the integration of refugees. This will benefit both the level of support and the through-flow. That is why the procedures at the IND must be expedited in order to establish who is entitled to start building a future in the Netherlands and who must leave. The current waiting times are far too long. We must prevent the situation in which asylum seekers reside at a reception location for years before they can integrate. As far as legitimate asylum seekers are concerned, their integration must be started as soon as possible.