Dispersal Act

Dispersal Act
States General of the Netherlands
  • Asylum Reception Facilities in Municipalities (Enablement) Act
Passed byHouse of Representatives
Passed10 October 2023
Passed bySenate
Passed23 January 2024
Royal assent24 January 2024
First chamber: House of Representatives
Introduced byEric van der Burg
Voting summary
  • 81 voted for
  • 68 voted against
Second chamber: Senate
Committee responsibleCommittee for Immigration & Asylum / Justice and Home Affairs Council
Voting summary
  • 43 voted for
  • 27 voted against
Status: In force

The Dispersal Act (Dutch: Spreidingswet), formally known as the Asylum Reception Facilities in Municipalities (Enablement) Act, is a Dutch statute intended to better distribute asylum seekers across municipalities. Introduced by Minister for Migration Eric van der Burg, it was passed by the House of Representatives in October 2023 and by the Senate in January 2024.

A new governing coalition – formed in May 2024 – intends to repeal the act.

Contents

The bill has made municipalities co-responsible for sheltering asylum seekers. To ensure a fair distribution, the cabinet member in charge of immigration should once per two years assess per province the accommodation necessary to house all refugees. The King's commissioner facilitates negotiations within a province between municipalities to determine a distribution of the required capacity. Municipalities receive financial incentives for sheltering special groups of asylum seekers and for providing more accommodation than required.[1] The baseline for the latter is determined by a combination of the municipality's population and socio-economic score.[2] The bonus for additional sheltering is intended to prevent downscaling of capacity in times of a low influx of refugees. If no agreement is reached within nine months, the national government can compel municipalities to take on a specified number of asylum seekers.[1]

In the Nederlands Juristenblad [nl], several jurists questioned the government's ability to force the sheltering of additional refugees. Besides, Van der Burg clarified to the Senate that agreements would not be enforced if municipalities unable to fulfill their obligations indicated their challenge in a timely manner.[1]

Legislative history

Minister for Migration Eric van der Burg (VVD) announced the Dispersal Act in the summer of 2022, as too few municipalities were volunteering to shelter refugees.[3] He introduced it in the House of Representatives on 28 March 2023.[4] In order to secure support from the VVD, a coalition party, Van der Burg replaced obligations for municipalities to shelter asylum seekers by financial incentives: upon opening a location housing at least 100 refugees for at least five years, they would receive €2,500 per refugee.[1] However, the revised bill did not receive enough support, and the fourth Rutte cabinet collapsed in July 2023 as a result of disagreements over immigration reform.[1][5] The CDA, a coalition party until the collapse, successfully attempted to remove most financial incentives from the bill in late September.[1] The Dispersal Act was passed by the House of Representatives on 10 October with 81 out of 149 votes in favor.[4] The VVD voted in opposition, arguing measures would first have to be taken to reduce the number of refugees entering the Netherlands.[6]

The bill subsequently moved to the Senate, where it was set to be voted on in January 2024.[1] Following the November 2023 general election, a House motion by VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz was carried calling on the Senate to suspend its consideration of the bill in order to not interfere with the ongoing cabinet formation. The motion was co-sponsored by the other parties involved in the process (PVV, BBB, and NSC), while being fiercely criticized by the opposition.[3] The VVD's ten-member parliamentary group in the Senate announced a week before the vote it would support the bill, saying it trusted the newly elected House of Representatives would tackle inflow issues.[6] The bill was approved on 23 January with 43 out of the 70 senators present voting in favor, and it went into effect on 1 February.[7]

Execution and repeal efforts

On 17 May 2024, the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB presented their coalition agreement, in which they announced their intention to repeal the Dispersal Act.[8] Minister of Asylum and Migration Marjolein Faber (PVV) said in October 2024 that the process would take two to three years, but she retracted her statement the same week, saying that the repeal would be enacted as soon as possible.[9] The coalition parties reached an agreement on asylum measures on 25 October, committing to repeal the law potentially within the year, but Faber later announced that the repeal would be submitted for advice in the first quarter of 2025.[10][11][12] All King's commissioners signed a letter in support of the Dispersal Act.[13]

The deadline for provinces to submit their plans to shelter 96,000 asylum seekers in total was 1 November 2024. Five out of twelve provinces – Drenthe, Flevoland, Gelderland, Groningen, and Zeeland – met or exceeded their objective, while a total of 80,000 sheltering spots had been agreed to across all provinces.[13][14] Ahead of the deadline, RTL Nieuws concluded that 85% of municipalities had made plans to shelter asylum seekers, comparing it to 53% of municipalities that sheltered them in the period 2012–2024.[15] Faber later urged provinces to provide the last 6,000 shelter spots by July 2024.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gunst, Jakko (15 January 2024). "Debat spreidingswet nadert eindelijk ontknoping" [Debate about Dispersal Act finally reaches climax]. Reformatorisch Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  2. ^ Slomp, Priscilla (23 January 2024). "Eerste Kamer stemt in met spreidingswet: zo werkt de verdeling van asielzoekers" [Senate votes in favor of Dispersal Act: This is how the distribution of refugees will work]. NU.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Al Ali, Wafa (14 January 2024). "Senaat wacht spannend debat over spreidingswet, hangt op twee stemmen" [Senate awaits tense debate about Dispersal Act, depends on two votes]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Wet gemeentelijke taak mogelijk maken asielopvangvoorzieningen ('Spreidingswet')" [Act municipal task enabling asylum centers ('Dispersal Act')]. House of Representatives (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Dit is wat we nu weten over de val van kabinet-Rutte IV" [This is what we now know about the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet]. NOS (in Dutch). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b Slomp, Priscilla (16 January 2024). "Spreidingswet asielopvang komt er: genoeg steun in Eerste Kamer" [Dispersal Act for sheltering refugees will pass: Enough support in the Senate]. NU.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  7. ^ Keultjes, Hanneke (23 January 2024). "Nu definitief: na mislukte uitstelpoging PVV stemt ook Eerste Kamer voor spreidingswet" [Now definitive: Senate passes Dispersal Act following failed postponement attempt by PVV]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Dit zijn de belangrijke plannen en voornemens uit het coalitieakkoord" [These are the most important plans and intentions in the coalition agreement]. NOS (in Dutch). 16 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  9. ^ Oving, Sanne (9 October 2024). "Faber komt terug van eerdere uitspraak: spreidingswet wordt toch snel geschrapt" [Faber retracts earlier statement: Dispersal Act will be repealed quickly]. NU.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Kabinet wil zo snel mogelijk asielwet, 'opvang moet tijdelijk zijn'" [Cabinet wants asylum law as soon as possible, 'sheltering should be temporary']. NOS (in Dutch). 25 October 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  11. ^ Jonker, Jorn; Dietvorst, Guus (23 October 2024). "Asieldeal PVV en NSC uitgelekt: geen noodrecht, wel vergaande maatregelen" [Asylum deal PVV and NSC leaked: No emergency law, but far-reaching measures]. NOS (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  12. ^ Keultjes, Hanneke (14 November 2024). "Asielminister Faber in eigen planning: spreidingswet niet meer dit jaar ingetrokken" [Asylum minister Faber in own planning: Dispersal Act will not be repealed this year]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  13. ^ a b Al Ali, Wafa (2 November 2024). "Lokale bestuurders missen betrokkenheid bij asielminister Faber" [Local administrators miss involvement of asylum minister Faber]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  14. ^ Van Houtert, Lucas (1 November 2024). "Provincies roepen minister Faber op spreidingswet niet te schrappen: 'Geeft rust én scheelt in kosten'" [Provinces call on Minister Faber to not repeal Dispersal Act: 'Gives peace and reduces costs']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  15. ^ Strijker, Roland; Heijkant, Joris (23 October 2024). "Spreidingswet heeft effect: grootste deel gemeenten heeft plannen asielopvang" [Dispersal Act has effect: Majority of municipalities has plans for sheltering asylum seekers]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  16. ^ Keultjes, Hanneke (20 December 2024). "Faber gebruikt spreidingswet: 'Provincies moeten nog ruim 6000 asielopvangplekken extra zoeken'" [Faber uses Dispersal Act: 'Provinces have to find an additional 6,000 sheltering spots for asylum seekers']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 December 2024.

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