The reception of asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies is causing moth in the coalition. Coalition parties D66 and CU want the cabinet to stick to (financial) agreements to accommodate people without a residence permit in certain places. State Secretary Van der Burg (Asylum) now admits to this, after an initial decision not to allocate any more money.
The mutual quarrel was about the so-called National Aliens Provision (LVV), the successor to the bed, bath, bread scheme. In recent years, five municipalities received money from the cabinet to arrange this reception for asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies, but that seemed to be coming to an end.
This is not the first time there has been controversy over the scheme. The Rutte II cabinet almost fell in 2015 on the question of what to do with asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies. The VVD wanted to criminalize illegal activity, while the PvdA wanted to take care of this group of people. The compromise between VVD and PvdA ultimately resulted in sober reception in five municipalities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Groningen.
The House of Representatives will debate asylum policy on Wednesday morning. MPs then talk about the forecasts that were recently presented, which show that much more money needs to be allocated to asylum policy than previously expected. An additional EUR 8.7 billion has been allocated up to and including 2026, bringing the total to EUR 13.9 billion. The LVV must also be paid from that money.
‘Continue to support’
The arrangement has been against the sore leg of VVD for some time, because that party would rather not see illegal immigrants being taken care of in the country. But D66 MP Podt is counting on the State Secretary to pay for this form of shelter after this year as well. “This arrangement provides a roof for undocumented migrants and safety on the street. We must continue to support municipalities that are already committed to regular asylum reception,” she says.
CU Member of Parliament Ceder also says that things are ‘really different’ as far as he is concerned. “Together with municipalities, this cabinet must simply implement the agreements for a nationwide network, precisely because that is now so important for municipalities, public order and decent asylum policy.”
The Ministry of Justice and Security announced on Tuesday afternoon that Van der Burg is ‘talking’ about the issue with the five municipalities involved. But later in the day, the VVD minister already announced that money will still be allocated for the LVV, so that it can stay in the air longer.
‘Aimed at return’
It has been agreed in the coalition agreement that the National Aliens Facility (LVV) will be expanded ‘to a nationwide network in which the reception is always aimed at return’. Independent municipal shelters will then no longer be necessary and will no longer be financed by the government, according to the agreement. It is heard in cabinet circles that the cover was incidental and that it can therefore be reduced. Moreover, the coalition would have been aware that this was coming.