The outgoing Dutch cabinet’s pledge to introduce tougher immigration laws look set to be passed by parliament after the Christian Democrats (CDA) dropped their objections to an amendment that would criminalise illegal residency.

The CDA initially supported the emergency measures bill, which would also shorten the term for residency permits from five years to three, make family reunions more difficult and create a two-tier system for refugee status.

But in June the far-right PVV party managed to secure a majority for an amendment that would make it a crime to help failed asylum seekers who refused to leave the country.

The CDA said the plan would criminalise acts of charity or compassion such as giving a hungry refugee a bowl of soup, and dropped their support for the whole bill.

The other Christian parties, the ChristenUnie and the orthodox Protestant SGP, also criticised the measure. The CDA’s support is needed to pass the bill through the lower house, while the SGP have a pivotal position in the senate.

But on Monday, CDA MP Bart van den Brink told a committee hearing that his party was prepared to back the bill after foreign affairs minister, David van Weel, reassured MPs that people who helped refugees would not face prosecution.

Revolving door

Van den Brink said Van Weel’s efforts had fixed “a lot of problems with implementation”. “This is a form of criminalisation that the CDA has supported for a long time: before the elections, during the elections and afterwards,” he added.

The CU, as well as the progressive-liberal D66, had called for the idea of criminalising illegal residency to be scrapped altogether.

Local authorities, police and the immigration service IND have warned of a revolving door effect if asylum seekers are jailed for refusing to leave and face being arrested again on their release.

D66 MP Jan Paternotte said the revised bill risked creating extra work for the immigration service, comparing it to “a dog chasing its own tail and ending up biting it.”

D66 are in negotiations to form a new government with the CDA and the right-wing liberal VVD, but Van Weel, a VVD minister, wants to pass the legislation before the new cabinet takes office to avoid a “big problem”.

Other left-wing opposition parties also criticised the bill. GroenLinks-PvdA MP Lisa Westerveld said it was “falling apart at the seams” and was being rushed through parliament.

Christine Teunissen of the animal rights party PvdD was concerned that refugees would refuse medical treatment if they risked being arrested.

The far-right PVV had also threatened to vote against the law if its proposals were watered down, but MP Marine Vondeling said in Monday she was prepared to accept the compromise. “We’re not going to block criminalisation,” she said.

ChristenUnie MP Don Ceder said Van Weel had failed to explain to MPs how the law would have any practical benefits or address issues such as the impact on prison capacity. Parliament was still unable to “judge the actual effectiveness” of the plans, he said.