NETHERLANDS TIGHTENS BORDER TO REGULATE MIGRATION-The controls are set to last for six months
The Migration Ministry said today that the Netherlands will impose controls on its land borders, all of which are with fellow countries in the European Union’s Schengen border-free zone, and some flights from within the Schengen zone from today.
The controls are set to last six months, part of a wider crackdown on migration proposed by the coalition led by the PVV party of Geert Wilders, following a similar move by Germany.
The Dutch Minister of Asylum and Migration Marjolein Faber, who visited Eijsden, near the border with Belgium today, said the controls follow similar moves by neighbouring Germany which already suspended the freedom of the passport-free Schengen zone in September to tackle illegal immigration.
Measures also include limiting asylum permits to a maximum of three years and restricting possibilities for asylum seekers who are allowed to stay to reunite with family members.
These plans were already part of the coalition agreement the parties reached in July, following Wilders’ resounding election victory almost a year ago.
But it took the parties months to reach a compromise on the way forward, as Wilders insisted on declaring a national asylum crisis that would enable the government to bypass parliament.
