Netherlands: New Aliens Act in 2001
01 June 2000
The Tweed Kamer, the Second Chamber of the Dutch parliament, passed a new Aliens Act before the summer recess. The Act, which was one of the last items the "purple" coalition agreed when they established the Kok II government, will come into force on the I January 2001 and will be much more restrictive than the old one. There always had been political differences between the PvdA and the Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) pressed for the restrictive new Act.
The Bill before parliament was designed to decrease the number of refugees and to tighten standards for family reunion. Under the new Act there will be: a) a reduction to four different types of residency permits; b) a strict legal distinction between refugees and all other immigrants; c) refugees will receive a temporary permit to stay for the first three years; d) if, while on a temporary permit, the situation in the country of origin improves the refugee can be expelled.
As if this law was not restrictive enough, the minister of Justice added an exception if there was a "mass influx" of refugees. Under these circumstances refugees won't even get a temporary permit; they will be "tolerated" but can be expelled as soon as the situation changes.
The Bill also contains provisions governing the supervision of aliens and measures for the restriction and deprivation of their liberty. Under the present Aliens Act, (Section 19, which was influenced by migrant's groups), officials may exercise their powers only if they have "definite indications of illegal residence". Previously, any "reasonable suspicion of illegal residence" was enough for surveillance which led to harassment on the streets. Under the new Act the criteria is changed to: "any facts or circumstances suggesting reasonable suspicion of illegal residence measured by objective standards", which is vague and close to the old discriminatory one.
The debate on the Aliens Act was well prepared by coalition members. The VVD wanted more restrictions and PvdA wanted more legal security for refugees. At a stroke, the proposals made it almost impossible to appeal a negative decision from the Immigration Office, (because they won't have to justify their decisions any more). The VVD and PvdA reached agreement: more legal security will be given, but the VVD insisted on stricter implementation of existing legislation, for instance, concerning undocumented migrants. The strict guidelines will allow more refugees will to be expelled.