That’s what group leader Sophie Hermans said on Tuesday afternoon after hours of deliberation with her party members. Party leader Rutte was also present for a long time. He managed to convince the group. ‘We saw Mark very firmly about the influx of asylum seekers, about what his efforts are’, says Hermans. ‘His answers have given the faction sufficient confidence that he will work on this as a VVD man. That means that, despite a number of objections, we as a group can support the Spreading Act.’
The Spreading Act is intended to give the cabinet the power to force municipalities to receive more asylum seekers. There were strong objections to this in the VVD group. The party leader therefore came to the group on Tuesday to convince his party members.
Rutte, in his own words, limited himself on Tuesday morning to the promise that the cabinet will work on measures to reduce the influx of asylum seekers. “There is great concern in the group about this,” said the prime minister. ‘As a foreman, I will continue to work on this, because those numbers are also too high. I share the group’s conviction that we cannot continue with these high intake numbers.’
Rutte left the group meeting just before 2 p.m. after hours of discussion about asylum policy. An hour later Hermans was able to report that the party leader’s mission had been successful.
compulsion
The VVD faction has slowly but surely set the mood within the government coalition in recent weeks through its persistent opposition to the cabinet plan to better spread asylum seekers across all municipalities, if necessary by force.
At the end of August, that plan was part of the compromise that was reached within the coalition after a summer in which the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Coa) no longer knew what to do with the ever-increasing shortage of reception places for people who report for asylum in the Netherlands. The cabinet promised to work on measures to reduce asylum figures (including by limiting family reunification), while municipalities in turn promised to arrange more reception places. To prevent some of the municipalities from not participating, the law was also announced that makes it possible to force municipalities to provide shelter.
Responsible State Secretary Van der Burg wants to set up this law urgently, so that it can take effect on January 1, 2023. Since September, however, it has been restless in the VVD about the law. Some of the members – and of the parliamentary group – fear that the coercion imposed by The Hague will further undermine the already fragile social support for asylum reception in many municipalities. Moreover, they believe that the Netherlands is still doing too little to discourage asylum seekers from coming to the Netherlands. The latest forecast for the asylum figures for next year further fueled the resistance in the VVD group at the end of last week.
However, the political room for maneuver for State Secretary Van der Burg is limited because he also has to take into account the wishes of coalition partners D66, ChristenUnie and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the CDA. Those parties have to deal with critics in their own circle who find the limitation of family reunification too far. Rutte’s promise on Tuesday probably fits within the ambitions of the other parties: it became clear at the end of last week that the cabinet is brainstorming about ideas to do something about the asylum figures.