The Netherlands has approved a reform of its immigration legislation that provides for sentences of up to three months in prison and fines of €5,500 for illegal immigrants who refuse to cooperate with the authorities in carrying out their expulsion. The measure is part of a new law aimed at toughening deportations and facilitating the departure of foreigners who do not have the right to remain in the country.
The initiative, promoted by Minister of Asylum and Migration Bart van den Brink, received the support of the Dutch Senate on Oct.13, after having been approved by the House of Representatives. The new rule will allow authorities to require the cooperation of immigrants undergoing deportation procedures, even when they refuse to appear before the organizations in charge of managing their return.
Obligations include attending interviews with immigration services or showing up at the embassies of their home countries to obtain travel documents. If a foreigner continues to refuse these obligations after receiving a formal request, he or she may face criminal sanctions.
The legislation also expands the cases in which the authorities may declare a foreigner an “unwanted person,” an administrative category that requires them to immediately leave Dutch territory and prohibits their return. The measure may be applied to a greater number of immigrants who commit crimes and cause serious disturbances of public order, including certain cases of robberies or assaults.
The Dutch government considers that the previous legal methods were insufficient to act against foreigners who, despite losing their right of residence, continued to hinder their expulsion.
“We are using all means to improve the return of people who cannot remain here,” said Van den Brink when announcing the approval of the reform.
Another modification will allow the police and the Dutch royal gendarmerie to detain a foreigner for up to nine hours to verify his or her identity and determine whether his or her detention is appropriate, compared to the previous general limit of six hours. The government argues that the lack of time to complete these verifications caused some people to be released before a detention measure could be imposed.
The reform also eliminates certain coercive fines judicially imposed on the government when the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) does not resolve asylum applications within the established deadlines. The new provisions will be applied in a phased manner and will maintain judicial review of detention measures.
