VVD MPs line up demands for justice ministry debate

MPs from the ruling right-wing Liberal VVD want the government to get tough on potential internet-based child abuse and to make more use of powers to deport criminal European nationals, according to media reports on Monday.

The party thinks adults who engage in sexually-charged online conversations with children should face criminal charges, according to the Volkskrant.

The paper says VVD parliamentarians plan to raise the issue during this week’s debate on the justice ministry budget.

‘Such conversations can act as a step towards sexual abuse and that is something we cannot tolerate,’ MP Foort van Oosten told the paper.

Virtual world

Current legislation on sex crimes needs updating to take the impact of the internet into account, he said. ‘We now live in a virtual world in which there are fewer obstacles to approaching children.’

According to the Telegraaf, VVD parliamentarians are also poised to urge junior justice minister Fred Teeven to make better use of his powers to deport EU citizens with criminal convictions.

The minister has the power to declare criminal Romanians, Bulgarians and other EU nationals to be undesirable aliens but does not take full advantage of it, the paper quotes VVD MPs as saying.

The debate is due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation