Dutch coalition government split over asylum seeker policy | Reuters - April 16, 2015 |

Liberal Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday sought to resolve a dispute within his centre-right coalition government over providing shelter to thousands of failed asylum seekers.

More meetings with the junior coalition partner Labour Party had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon after talks ran past midnight on Wednesday, but the discussions were postponed until Friday, the parties said. No explanation was provided.

The issue deeply divides the ruling parties and has the potential to trigger a political crisis. The government teetered on the verge of collapse late last year after a healthcare bill was blocked in the Senate.

Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) does not want to provide basic food and shelter to undocumented, or failed asylum seekers because of concerns the policy would attract more migrants.

The left-of-centre Labour Party, which shares power with the VVD, backs a policy of "bed, bath and bread" for people in need, even if they have been refused asylum.

A small nation of 17 million people, the Netherlands welcomed large numbers of migrants for decades after World War Two, mostly from Turkey and Morocco. But it has become less accommodating amid a public backlash over Muslim immigration and increasing stresses on the social welfare system.

[I take issue with this very poor composition on the issue of migrant workers. At the time of the EEC of six nations, the Dutch had a large manufacturing base for electronics (Philips with 100k employees), textiles in Twente and cigars in Brabant. To lower the cost of labor, companies hired foreign workers from Italy, Spain and Greece. All foreign employees did not acquire a residence permit and had a temporary work permit.

As the EU expanded, these migrants returned home as their local economies improved. Dutch employers took the next step through employment agencies in provincial hubs in Morocco and Turkey to hire unskilled laborers. Slowly the manufacturing moved out to the newly expanded EU countries to profit from much lower labor costs and social responsibility. The Moroccan and Turkish workers did not return, but invited family members to join them under principle of "family reunification". A single politician put failed policy on the agenda ... Pim Fortuyn. He was assassinated by a Bio-terrorist.

As the housing crisis increased, investment poured into corporate offices, financial center in Amsterdam and buildings for Rotterdam harbor. The free market principles created a lopsided geographical centers of employment. The problems become  isi le once crisis hit ... Internet in 2000, financial crisis 2008-09 and the double whammy today of the pandemic and Biden's war of choice in the Ukraine. Today there is a shortfall of one million homes.

Inequality is steadfast and the xenophobes reap big political gains in the power structure of The Hague. People suffer and the only growth is in food banks with support of the Red Cross. Recently the refugee camps in Ter Apel received medical support from Médecins Sans Frontières.]

There are between 10,000-20,000 illegal, or irregular migrants, in the Netherlands, Dutch media reported. The Ministry for Security and Justice was not available to comment.

The issue of how to treat asylum seekers resurfaced this week after a resolution on the matter was adopted by the Council of Europe, Europe's leading human rights body, which has been interpreted differently by the coalition parties.

"We are pleased with the (Council of Europe) resolution," Erin Green of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), which lodged the complaint against the Netherlands, said.

"It is our hope that this resolution will increase momentum toward a more generous implementation of the European Social Charter."

The charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees social and economic human rights.

• Netherlands: Rising immigration and new government initiatives
• Dutch Government Sued Over 'Inhumane' Fate of Asylum Seekers | Bloomberg - Aug. 24, 2022 |