It was a last minute triumph for Eric van der Burg. For a year and a half, the VVD State Secretary for Asylum fought for the dispersal law, which distributes asylum seekers across the country. He received strong opposition from his party, but in the end he had the last laugh.
To many people’s surprise, the VVD faction in the Senate announced on Tuesday evening that it will vote in favor of the law next week. This means that the dispersal law will be introduced from next month. The unanimous decision of the ten-member VVD faction means that Van der Burg can count on a large majority of at least 46 seats – 38 seats are needed for a majority in the Senate.
Radical right-wing senators Annabel Nanninga (JA21) and Alexander van Hattem (PVV) immediately spoke on Tuesday evening of “betrayal” by the VVD Senate faction to their own party.
The decision of the VVD members, expressed by Senator Marian Kaljouw, is completely against the party position in the House of Representatives. There, the VVD voted against the law after the summer and last month came up with a controversial motion calling on the cabinet and the Senate to “take care” with the dispersal law. This should not be discussed while the formation interviews are ongoing.
Political pressure
The dispersal law was extensively debated in the Senate on Monday and Tuesday. The VVD faction did not appear to be sensitive to political pressure surrounding the formation discussions. Since the election campaign, party leader Dilan Yesilgöz has been emphatic in favor of major inflow-restricting measures, only then will her group talk about ‘fairer’ distribution and reception of asylum seekers. She shares that position with NSC and BBB, only the PVV wants a complete asylum stop.
“Refugees will continue to come, and we will have to continue to accommodate them,” said an audibly nervous VVD senator Kaljouw. Her group also believes that strict influx measures should be implemented, such as “stricter admission requirements and restrictions” in the field of family reunification. Kaljouw noted that the dispersal law cannot solve all problems in the asylum chain, but the VVD Senate faction has been convinced by interest groups of provinces and municipalities, who have “explicitly indicated that they can get by with this law.” She also does not want to “abandon” the implementing organizations COA and IND.
It is not the case that everyone within the VVD is against the distribution law. On Sunday, the mayors of Cranendonck and Dordrecht spoke in the TV program Outside court out for the law. These VVD mayors consider the dispersal law necessary to relieve the high pressure on the registration centers in Ter Apel and Budel.
Also read
All Senate factions know that ‘the need is great’ in asylum reception, but is the dispersal law the solution?
Sleep outside
The dispersal law was devised by State Secretary Van der Burg in response to the reception crisis in the summer of 2022. At that time, hundreds of asylum seekers were forced to sleep outside the registration center in Ter Apel. Since then, the minister has been begging for emergency crisis shelters, which often do not meet basic quality standards and are more expensive than normal shelters.
The introduction of the dispersal law will have an impact on the formation talks, which will continue on Wednesday. “MY HEAVEN,” PVV leader Geert Wilders responded to X on the decision of the VVD Senate faction. Yesilgöz denies that the formation will suffer as a result. “The conversations go as they go. Things happen in the House of Representatives, the Senate, the rest of the world and that is politics.”
For a long time, eyes were focused on the BBB faction in the Senate. BBB senator Arie Griffioen made it clear that he understands the importance of the dispersal law, but also has to relate to the position of BBB leader Caroline Van der Plas, who is participating in the formation discussions. Her trump card is that the BBB is the largest in the Senate with sixteen seats, and it is in her interest to show that she has some control over it.
The VVD’s agreement may take pressure off the large BBB faction, which has now been given more space not to make things too difficult for its party leader.