Minister Marjolein Faber (Asylum and Migration, PVV) must be open about the financial compensation that her ministry gives to nuisance asylum seekers to return to their country of origin. This is what several House of Representatives factions want in response to reports NRC. The parties also believe that Faber should come up with a different approach for this group.
NRC reported on Saturday about the nuisance asylum seeker Hassan Roukas, who caused problems in the Netherlands for thirteen years – including setting fire to a shelter. The man eventually made a deal with the ministry: in exchange for a renovation, thousands of euros in free medicine, a hearing aid and a mobility scooter, he voluntarily returned to Morocco. Such agreements are made more often, while people with a criminal record like Roukas are not eligible for these compensations under the regular return scheme.
Several factions want to know how often this has happened and how much money is involved. “A ‘tough approach’ to those who cause nuisance has always been promised, but in practice they receive large sums of money,” says SP MP Michiel van Nispen. “That may be pragmatic, but it is not fair to those who are not causing nuisance.” He fears that the policy sends the signal “that nuisance and criminal behavior pays.”
Diederik Boomsma of NSC “can understand” that the ministry “takes these kinds of emergency measures”, but believes that there should be transparency about the payments.
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Deals
So far, the Ministry of Asylum and Migration has not said anything about the deals. While the regular return scheme keeps track of exactly how much money has been spent on it and how many people returned with it, the ministry says it does not know what the costs are of nine hundred deals with foreigners that deviate from this policy.
It is also unknown how many have a criminal record or have been identified as causing nuisance. According to the ministry, “the registration system for aliens” is “not designed” for this “search question”. The parties want Faber to disclose this information.
In addition, the parties especially want the minister to come up with new solutions for those causing nuisance. According to NSC member Boomsma, it is now too unclear “what trade prospects there are” to deport those causing nuisance, with the undesirable consequence that they are “sent from place to place by all kinds of authorities”.
In addition, the parties especially want the minister to come up with new solutions for those causing nuisance
According to VVD MP Queeny Rajkowski, the reporting shows “how difficult it is in practice to get rejected asylum seekers who do everything they can to stay here, out of the country.” That is why the VVD wants foreigners declared undesirable who frustrate their return to be detained.
SP member Van Nispen also demands that Faber come up with “effective” measures. “This coalition promises to tackle problems, including in the area of asylum, and to allow people to return who are not allowed to stay. Faber can now show what she has already done about this and how she will solve this.”
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