A staff member of the Mobile Surveillance Security (MTV) of the Royal Military Marechaussee, the Dutch national police forces, checks a passport during an inspection near the Belgium border in Hazeldonk, The Netherlands, on November 9, 2015.
Jerry Lampen / AFP
Ministers say they want to set an example for the rest of Europe. But critics argue they are just talking tough ahead of elections.
Dutch officials signed a ‘letter of intent’ with Uganda on Thursday outlining plans for returning illegal migrants using the East African nation as a transit point.
Uganda last month struck a similar deal with the U.S., subject to a number of stipulations, such as that the deportees have no criminal record and are nationals of African nations.
Initial details suggest that the Netherlands’ deal will also be exclusive to migrants who are “from the region.” Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said after a UN meeting in New York on Thursday that those sent to Uganda will be kept there while “efforts will continue to facilitate their return” to their actual country of origin.
🇺🇬🇳🇱 Met Oeganda heb ik afspraken gemaakt om meer grip te krijgen op migratie en terugkeer. Zo willen we zorgen dat mensen die hier niet mogen blijven, ook echt vertrekken. Bekijk de video voor meer uitleg. ^DvW pic.twitter.com/VnDkm5bT82
He also made it clear that his government hopes to set an example regarding migrant returns for the rest of Europe and to demonstrate that “the Netherlands, within Europe, is taking a leading role in finding real, workable solutions for the challenges surrounding asylum and migration.”
The problems in the field of asylum and migration are significant and require concrete, workable solutions. We must focus on what is possible.
But critics argued that van Weel was merely speaking tough in order to boost his party’s—the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)—poll ratings. Politician Eelco Van Hoecke of opposition party JA21 noted that “during election time, suddenly everything becomes fluid.”
More broadly, the Dutch government reportedly spent around €700 million on security at asylum reception centres in 2023 and 2024, although NieuwRechts editor Daniel de Liever joked that “you wouldn’t think so with all the incidents.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
