The cabinet has failed in its efforts to get unwilling countries to take back asylum seekers who don’t qualify for residency in the Netherlands, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

There is a ‘discrepancy’ between the political debate on deportations and the practicalities, according to the ACVZ, a government advisory commission on migration issues.

In particular, the Netherlands’ economic interests are given more weight than the deportation of undocumented migrants, the commission says.

Ministers have pledged to do all they can to persuade countries to accept rejected asylum seekers. This pressure ‘will also include trade and development contracts with these countries’, the coalition agreement states.

However, the AVCZ says ‘exports to the countries and the million euro contracts with Dutch firms are more important to the government than sending people back’.

Rewards

Most ministers, the paper quotes the commission as saying, appear to be unaware of the importance of returning refugees to their home countries.

If countries refuse to accept failed refugees, they cannot be deported. Last year, 4,400 people were deported and 4,110 left voluntarily, the Volkskrant says. The whereabouts of a further 7,440, who lost their cases for asylum, is unclear.

The AVCZ suggests rewarding countries which accept rejected refugees by, for example, by giving students and highly-skilled migrants easier entry to the Netherlands.

In addition, it would be cost effective to strengthen diplomatic missions in the countries concerned, the commission suggests.