Cabinet revives plan to send failed asylum seekers to Uganda

The cabinet has revived its plan sending failed asylum seekers to Uganda despite European rules, the foreign affairs and asylum ministries have confirmed following a report in the Noord Hollands Dagblad.

The gist of the plan is to send refugees to the East African country from where they can be returned to their countries of origin in the “region” in exchange for financial compensation. It is not clear how many countries would be defined as belonging to the region.

Far-right PVV trade minister Reinette Klever launched the plan to use Uganda as a “return hub” on a visit to the country last October, saying it would be up to fellow PVV asylum minister Marjolein Faber to “sort out the details”.

Prime minister Dick Schoof, who was only told about it at the last minute, then touted it as an “innovative solution”.

The foreign affairs ministry claims the plan will prevent failed asylum seekers from disappearing under the radar. “Without an effective repatriation policy, some of the failed asylum seekers will choose to stay illegally,” the ministry said in a briefing.

An additional aim is to discourage migrants from designated safe countries who come to the Netherlands with valid papers, the ministry said.

EU rules which say failed asylum seekers can only be sent to their country of origin and only to a third country with their permission is likely to stand in the way of the plan, however. Uganda also has the most stringent anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, which would infringe on some asylum seekers’ human rights.

Coalition partners PVV, BBB and NSC have said they are in favour of the plan. The VVD has not yet said where it stands. Opposition parties D66 and GroenLinks-PvdA rejected the idea, accusing the cabinet of “creating the umpteenth diversion” to distract attention away from failing to “get anything done at all”.