The hard-right government of the Netherlands announced today unprecedented measures to fight immigration, including reintroducing border controls, declaring certain areas in Syria safe zones to make it easier to turn away asylum seekers, and repealing a law that obliges Dutch municipalities to give migrants provide accommodation.
Among the measures, which will soon be sent to the parliament for approval, there is also a limit on the duration of temporary visas for staying in the Netherlands and setting restrictions on obtaining visas for family members of migrants who have already been granted asylum in the Netherlands.
Thus, the Netherlands became one of the European countries that took a hard stance towards migration in the circumstances of rising anti-migrant sentiment across the continent.
Syrians mostly come to the Netherlands.
The announcement by Dutch authorities - whose decisions are being influenced by Geert Wilders' right-wing Freedom Party after winning parliamentary elections - comes a week after European Union leaders began considering ways to combat illegal migration and turn the 27-nation bloc into "Fortress Europe". after several years of more open access for newcomers.
Germany, the Netherlands' neighbor, recently reinstated border controls, and France's new government is pushing for a tougher approach to migrants.
"We want to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible (for migrants)," said Dutch Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, who is a member of the nationalist, anti-Islam Freedom Party that now dominates the government.
The leader of this party, Geert Wilders, said, regarding the adopted proposals in the government, that "today is a wonderful day" and that the adopted measures are historic, as well as that they represent "the toughest asylum measures ever".
Bonus video:
