Senate rejects bill to criminalise living in NL without papers

Senators have voted down a controversial asylum bill that would have made it a criminal offence to stay in the Netherlands without papers.

The vote in the upper house had been expected to go to the wire after the far-right PVV, which drafted the law during the last government term, said it would block the bill.

PVV senators objected to an amendment by justice minister David van Weel stating that people who gave support to undocumented migrants, such as food and shelter, would not face criminal charges.

The clause was inserted to secure the support of the Christian Democrat (CDA) and orthodox-protestant SGP parties, who said the law would otherwise criminalise acts of charity.

A separate vote to include the amendment was defeated by a single vote in the 75-seat upper house, at which point the CDA and SGP withdrew their support for the bill. The bill itself was defeated by 44 votes to 31.

Asylum minister Bart van den Brink accused the PVV of “political sabotage” by voting against its own bill, while PVV senator Alexander van Hattem directed the blame at D66.

In a heated exchange with reporters after the vote, Van Hattem said the largest party in the coalition had “failed to take responsibility” after its senate group voted against the bill even though D66 prime minister Rob Jetten wanted it to pass.

Van den Brink said he would bring forward a new bill to tighten up the asylum system. “I will restore the things that were not approved,” he said.

Some measures in the bill are included in the European Union’s pact on migration, which comes into force in June, such as abolishing the penalties the immigration service IND has to pay if it takes too long to decide on an asylum claim.

Tensions in coalition

But the vote will cause tensions in the coalition between D66, which supported the bill reluctantly to ease the strain on the asylum system, and the right-wing liberal VVD, which wants to see much stricter rules and a drop in refugee numbers.

A second law, establishing a two-tier asylum system, was passed by four votes in the Senate, meaning new asylum seekers will fall into one of two categories.

Those who face persecution for personal reasons, such as their political beliefs or sexual orientation, will stand a better chance of being granted asylum than those fleeing war, a political crisis or natural disaster.

A similar system was abolished in 2001 because it led to large numbers of appeals by refugees who wanted to upgrade their status.