The criminalization of residence in the Netherlands without residence documents is one step closer. A majority of the House of Representatives has approved the amended Emergency Asylum Measures Act that regulates this.
The amended law states that “participation” in “this crime” (illegality) is not punishable, which means that assistance to people without residence papers remains out of reach. This change was a condition of the CDA and the SGP, among others, to help the law gain a majority.
The criminalization of illegality (a PVV plan) was added to the Emergency Asylum Measures Act this summer at the last minute. MPs who voted in favor only realized afterwards that something as simple as handing out a bowl of soup to an undocumented person would become a criminal offense. Several parties, including the CDA and the SGP, withdrew their support for the law.
David van Weel (Asylum, VVD) then started working on a so-called ‘novella’ (amendment) to the law. The sentence that “participation in this crime (illegal residence), other than as a perpetrator, is not punishable” has been added to the law. This means that it remains a criminal offense to stay in the Netherlands without residence papers, but assistance to these people remains permitted. The minister hopes that this sentence will remove the anxiety among care providers.
However, there is still some uncertainty, especially about the scope of the law, as became apparent during the committee debate last Monday. According to proponents of the law, the law only affects asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies and who “actively frustrate” their own return. Opponents argue that the law has a much greater impact. Don Ceder (CU), during the committee debate: “The article of the law states that every adult alien who resides unlawfully in the Netherlands is punishable. This is much broader than just people who frustrate their return.”
Van Weel said several times on Monday that the law would not “lead to large-scale manhunts against undocumented immigrants. Our goal is not to hunt down all those illegal aliens.” The law still has to pass the Senate.
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