The House of Representatives approved the European Asylum and Migration Pact on Thursday. A majority of 105 of the one hundred and fifty MPs voted in favor of one bill that makes possible the implementation of this migration pact, which will apply in the European Union (EU) from June 2026.
The migration pact is a collection of rules with which the EU wants to gain more control over migration. For example, there should be stricter controls at the EU’s external borders and shortened procedures for ‘disadvantaged’ asylum applications. There will also be a solidarity mechanism, with which the reception of asylum seekers should be distributed more fairly among EU member states.
Coalition parties D66, VVD and CDA voted in favor of the law that regulates the implementation of the pact. They received support from the PVV, JA21, BBB, SGP, ChristenUnie and 50Plus. The largest opposition party, Progressive Netherlands, until recently GroenLinks-PvdA, voted against the bill. The party is in favor of the EU migration pact, MP Lisa Westerveld said prior to the vote, but according to her party, the cabinet is adding “unnecessarily” rules in the bill that make the policy stricter.
For example, the government wants to simplify family reunification and add rules about the possibility of placing children in detention. An amendment by PRO, Volt and ChristenUnie to remove the detention of children from the law was rejected last Tuesday, like almost all other amendments. “It doesn’t have to be done by Europe, it is a choice,” said Westerveld.
Pressure on justice
The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights is also critical of the extra measures that the cabinet is adding. The Human Rights Institute advised the House not to agree to national measures that are not part of the pact, but that do “place extra pressure on the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the judiciary and the legal profession.”
The Board is particularly concerned about the new conditions that the government wants to impose for family reunification, because it expects that this will result in longer waiting times. The long wait “puts a heavy burden on the mental health of people seeking asylum.” In addition, the new conditions put pressure on the right to respect for family life, the advice states. The Board therefore expects that this will lead to many procedures.
Despite the rejected amendments, the Christian Union faction did agree to the bill for the implementation of the migration pact. According to CU MP Don Ceder, the law is not perfect, but it is “a serious step forward, after a long period of symbolic politics and unfeasible proposals.”
The Forum for Democracy and Group Markuszower factions voted against the law, according to these parties the migration pact solves nothing and increases Brussels’ sovereignty.
The Senate still has to consider the bill. If the same parties vote for the law in the Senate, there will also be a majority in favor of the implementation of the migration pact.
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