The Spreading Act was conceived to distribute asylum seekers more fairly across the country. For years, a large majority of the more than 342 municipalities did not caught any asylum seeker, while a small part of relatively many asylum seekers caught.
The best -known example is the municipality of Westerwolde, where more than 2000 people regularly stayed in the registration center in Ter Apel in recent years, because asylum seekers could not move on to regular AZCs in the country.
The law works in such a way that a new cycle with different steps is completed every two years. First of all, it is calculated how many places are needed throughout the Netherlands. Those required places are then spread over the twelve provinces, which they again distribute between their own municipalities. At the basis of the law on 1 February 2024, 96,000 reception places were assumed.
A so -called ‘distribution decision’ is then taken to make the distribution final. These decisions then sent then Minister Faber of Asylum and Migration at the end of last year. Together, these counted even 101,500 reception places.
If provinces and municipalities do not come out of this, the Ministry can decide to force municipalities to include asylum seekers. This is why opponents of the Spreading Act also speak of a ‘compact law’.
The outgoing cabinet wants to get rid of the Spreading Act, but the question is whether there is a majority for that in the Senate. It is certain that at least the law will remain in force in the coming period.