Not a holiday camp: Faber plans to stop all outings for refugees

Immigration minister Marjolein Faber has told reporters she wants to stop all outings for asylum seekers in the Netherlands and plans to talk to refugee settlement agency COA about scrapping its budget for activities.

“This is not a holiday camp,” Faber said after the weekly cabinet meeting. “The Netherlands must absolutely not be an attractive place to come to.”

A lot of money already goes to refugee accommodation and ending outings would be a good way of saving money, the minister said.

Earlier this week Faber intervened to stop a trip to the Efteling amusement park for a group of teenage refugees in the Netherlands without family. The annual outing had been timed to take the youngsters away from the Frisian village of Sint Annaparochie during its annual fete, following trouble with village youth last year.

Well-wishers have so far raised over €200,000 in crowdfunding campaigns to pay for an outing for the group. While the trip to the Efteling has been halted, the COA has organised another visit but what it is has not yet been made public.

Faber, a minister on behalf of the far right PVV, is also not happy about this, saying that as far as she is concerned the troublemakers should be deported as soon as possible.

The COA has not yet commented on Faber’s new plan.