Christian democrat CDA senators toughened their conditions for backing the government’s new asylum laws yesterday, adding a demand for a formal review of how the legislation will work in practice. This comes on top of their existing objections to the criminalisation of being in the Netherlands without papers.

Asylum minister Bart van den Brink is answering questions in the senate on Tuesday, which he concedes will decide whether the legislation survives next week’s vote. Without the support of the CDA’s six senators, the government will have no majority in the upper house.

The party’s position, set out yesterday, concerned a clause in the package that would for the first time make it a criminal offence – punishable by up to six months in prison – simply to be in the Netherlands without valid residence papers.

The CDA wants prosecution limited to rejected asylum seekers who actively resist deportation, rather than just anyone without papers. CDA senator Madeleine van Toorenburg told the chamber the clause, added in the lower house at the last minute by the anti-immigration PVV in July 2025, was “a nasty political rush job” her party could not accept as it stood, NOS reported.

The CDA now also wants Van den Brink to commit to a formal review of the law within one or two years of it taking effect.

Coalition split

Coalition partner D66 has already said it will vote against the measure – even though it is now government policy.

Senator Boris Dittrich called the laws “not really humane” and said they would not give the country more control over migration. Prime minister Rob Jetten, the D66 leader, has nonetheless said his cabinet will implement the laws if the senate approves them, in line with the coalition agreement.

GroenLinks-PvdA, the largest group in the senate, is also opposed. Senator Farah Karimi warned that criminalising illegal stay would push undocumented people further out of sight and deter them from seeking medical help.

NOS has counted around 30 senators certain to vote yes on the proposals, and a similar number certain to vote no. That leaves the CDA’s six senators as the pivot in the 75-seat chamber.