Asylum crisis papers heavily redacted, opposition MPs furious

Opposition MPs have reacted in disbelief to the official documents about the government’s plans to declare an “asylum crisis” in which most of the text has been redacted out.

“You can’t take this seriously,” said GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans as he leafed through the papers during the second day of the budget debate on Wednesday afternoon. “They’re all blacked out.”

Mooi voorbeeld van oude, kleine politiek. #algemenebeschouwingen #APB2024 pic.twitter.com/ILfXXmnO5q

— Volt Nederland (@VoltNederland) September 19, 2024

At least 20 of the 69 pages were redacted, indicating they contained sensitive information, although prime minister Dick Schoof told MPs that the blacked out text was irrelevant to the crisis situation.

Several texts that were visible indicated the government’s plan is not viable. “Civil servants: the situation does not meet the legal demands for emergency migration legislation”, one page stated.

Ambtenaren: “hele sterke motivering” nodig voor staatsnoodrecht. Zonder motivering “niet aanvaardbaar vanuit democratisch en rechtstatelijk oogpunt”. #APB pic.twitter.com/vF44yP4fEw

— Fons Lambie (@fonslambie) September 19, 2024

Schoof agreed to send the documents that back up the cabinet’s claim the Netherlands is facing an “asylum crisis” to parliament after being pressed by MPs, as the bad-tempered debate on the right-wing government’s 2025 budget continued.

Schoof was heard muttering under his breath when opposition MPs demanded the documents on Thursday morning, on the second day of debate. Asylum also dominated discussions on Wednesday.

The government hopes that by declaring a crisis it can bypass parliament and implement new rules that will reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to the country. It is key to the right-wing administration’s plan to bring in the “toughest asylum regime ever”.

Tax on sport

The government’s decision to increase value added tax on the arts, culture, books, and sports has also come under fire during the debate, with D66 parliamentarian Jan Paternotte pointing out that all four coalition parties have said they are not in favour of the increase, but are still pressing ahead.

Schoof said during the debate that the coalition is prepared to talk about exempting sports events and gyms from the tax hike if all sides can agree.

One option to offset the impact on the treasury would be to bring in a tax on vaping, the AD said.