The Hague - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The statements of Dutch political leader Geert Wilders have raised concerns among immigrants of Arab and Muslim origin in the country, especially members of the Syrian community. Some of them expressed fears that the Dutch politician Wilders would carry out his threats. Reactions also came from Dutch opposition parties regarding the statements.
The far-right Dutch Freedom Party wants to "close the borders to asylum seekers" and is demanding that the government to which the party belongs arrange this "within a few weeks at most." The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, made this statement during a press conference on Monday evening. He threatened, "Otherwise, we will leave," meaning he would withdraw from the government. According to the Belgian News Agency in Brussels, Wilders abandoned his desire to freeze asylum. In the framework agreement with the parties in the government coalition, an agreement was reached on what he called "the strictest asylum policy ever." He now wants to cancel these agreements, and to do so, he is even threatening to bring down the government. "My party has shown itself to be very reasonable and very patient over the past year," Wilders said. He mentioned, among other things, the use of emergency legislation to suspend asylum rules, which ultimately did not happen. "Our patience has run out now."
The leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom then said: "He is not threatening anything. This is not a dictate, but it is not without commitment. We will no longer bow to anyone. From today, we will no longer bow. We are talking to everyone, but we will no longer bow," according to Wilders.
According to the Belgian news agency in the neighboring country, the leader of the Party for Freedom put forward ten proposals for a stricter asylum policy. Some of these were also in the party's election manifesto, such as returning Syrian asylum seekers and deporting foreigners and dual Dutch nationals who commit crimes. Wilders also wants no new asylum centers to be built.
In his first proposal, Wilders reiterated his call to close the borders to asylum seekers. Second, he said, "much greater border control" must be deployed to achieve this goal, including with the help of the military. Wilders wants to temporarily suspend family reunification, "similar to the Austrian model." He also wants to expel people with residence permits from asylum centers after fourteen weeks.
The leader of the Freedom Party criticized Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof's stance on immigration. He believes the time has come for the prime minister to do his utmost to achieve a result "on the most important issue for the largest party." Wilders said he wondered last week about the difference between Schoof and his predecessor, Mark Rutte. "If we become an extension, we will leave." Wilders is interviewed every Tuesday during question time in the Dutch House of Representatives, but it is not common for him to hold a press conference himself. He usually sends messages to the world via the X messaging platform.
The Freedom Party leader pointed to Germany and Austria for their strict measures, which also included the introduction of border controls, among other things. He also spoke about Belgium, which "no longer accepts single men."
Dutch asylum lawyer Michael Jaap said the ten proposals for a stricter asylum policy announced by the Freedom Party leader on Monday afternoon are unworkable. Wilders wants to close the borders to asylum seekers within a few weeks. According to Jaap, this is not possible so easily. "If someone shows up at the border and asks for asylum, you must process that asylum request," he told the Dutch news agency ANP. "You can't just send someone back."
He also explicitly speaks about family reunification. This has been said before. There is no legal basis for preventing it. It would also be contrary to Dutch regulations and European law.
He wants The Freedom Party wants the Syrians to return to their country. "I don't understand how Wilders knows it's safe, and he doesn't support that conclusion either," says Jaap. "He's jumping the gun, because the advice on the country's security hasn't been forthcoming yet."
For its part, the Dutch Defense Union (VBM) described Wilders' plan to immediately close all borders to asylum seekers and immediately guard those borders as "unrealistic" and "mission impossible." Jan Deby says the army isn't supposed to guard the border. That task falls to the Royal Guard, but they say they "certainly don't have the personnel" to monitor all 840 border crossings.
Opposition parties in the Dutch House of Representatives are also dissatisfied with the asylum proposals put forward by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders on Monday. Green-Labor MP Kati Piri suspects a "diversionary maneuver," while D66 leader Rob Jetten describes Wilders' press conference as a "political show" that doesn't benefit the Netherlands.
Who is fooling Wilders? He knows his asylum proposals are unworkable. To implement, Perry says on Channel X. "So the question is: Is this a deceptive ploy to cover up false promises, or is it aimed at bringing down the Wilders-Selgosz government?"
Geten calls Wilders a "caged cat." He points out that Wilders' "minister," Marjolein Faber, is responsible for the asylum policy the PVV leader is so dissatisfied with. Wilders has promoted myths about immigration, and now he claims it is someone else's responsibility. Solutions to the migration problem are ready, but the political courage needed to achieve real progress is lacking.

Christian Union leader Miriam Becker responded, saying, "Wilders is sowing division in the coalition, and his minister is clearly failing at governance." Stefan van Baarle, leader of the Denk party, described Wilders' press conference as "disgusting," and his proposals as "a torrent of unfair and discriminatory filth."
The ruling NSC party believes the coalition agreement reached more than a year ago "already contains strong measures to curb asylum migration." What's "most important" is that parliament is now quickly adopting them, according to the National Security Council. The party has not responded to Wilders' concrete measures, nor to his threat to bring down the government if it doesn't get what it wants.