A majority in Parliament supports the law that will spread asylum sites across the country. However, there is little chance the bill will actually be introduced, because the Senate still has to consider the proposal.
The parties in the House of Representatives that support the bill do not have a majority in the Senate. All eyes are on the BBB, which has had the largest number of senators since this spring.
BBB leader Caroline van der Plas has not yet taken an official position. She supports the fair distribution of asylum facilities, but at the same time she does not want to force municipalities to do so. She also believes that the Netherlands should only receive the maximum number of asylum seekers, around fifteen thousand per year.
The House of Representatives discussed the law over two days last week. During the discussion it became clear that the majority of House members did not have much sympathy for the BBB’s wishes. Outgoing Secretary of State Erik van der Burgh (Asylum) stressed that he did not need a law at all if the Netherlands only received a total of fifteen thousand asylum seekers annually. Moreover, without a coercive element, the law will not function properly.
Ontvang meldingen bij artikelen over de asielopvang in Nederland
Shelters are also distributed based on the wealth of municipalities
SP also hesitated. The party does not want to divide the number of shelter places based on population size alone. According to the SP, the distribution must also take into account how wealthy the municipality is. SP MP Jasper van Dijk has put forward a motion to this effect.
It was announced on Tuesday that the law’s supporters (including D66, CDA, CU, GroenLinks, PvdA, PvdD and Volt) support this SP plan. As a result, the Socialist Party faction will also approve the distribution law. This means that there is a majority in the House of Representatives.
All amendments to the bill will be voted on Tuesday afternoon. The House of Representatives will vote on the full proposal on Thursday at the earliest. It seems almost certain that the BBB will vote against it, as there is no majority in favor of the amendments the party desires.
The bill will then be sent to the Senate, but will likely be repealed or shelved there.
De wet in het kort:
De spreidingswet is een veelbesproken wet in politiek Den Haag. Staatssecretaris Eric van der Burg (Asiel) wilde de wet het liefst begin dit jaar al invoeren, maar het proces liep keer op keer vertraging op.
Met de wet worden elke twee jaar de benodigde opvangplekken over het land verdeeld. Alle gemeenten krijgen in februari te horen hoeveel asielzoekers ze zouden moeten opvangen. Vervolgens krijgen ze negen maanden de tijd om dit aantal per provincie te regelen. Zo hoeft er niet in elke gemeente een azc te komen, maar kan een aantal gemeenten dit onderling verdelen.
Als gemeenten vrijwillig meewerken, kunnen ze een geldbonus krijgen. Maar als dit niet lukt, kan het kabinet in het uiterste geval dwang uitoefenen.
