Netherlands passes law to detain and deport rejected asylum seekers
The Dutch Chamber of Deputies has approved the "Law on the Return and Detention of Foreigners", in a move that rearranges the file of migration and asylum within the Netherlands and completely eliminates the fines that were imposed on the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) due to the delay in the processing of asylum applications.
The vote, which took place on June 4, 2026, revived measures previously included in the "emergency asylum law" that fell in April, but the government reintroduced it in a new, more stringent form.
The Dutch newspaper NRC reported that the cancellation of fines is one of the most prominent provisions of the law, after the compensation paid by theIND to asylum seekers over the past years amounted to about 79 million euros, as a result of exceeding the legal deadlines.
Dutch opposition parties and associations have warned that the new law will give Dutch authorities more leeway to detain rejected asylum seekers, implement stricter deportation procedures, and speed up the classification of some migrants who commit crimes or cause "public nuisance" as persona non grata, allowing them to be deported or arrested immediately when they refuse to leave.
Although the law is passed by the House of Representatives, it will not become effective until it is submitted to the Dutch Senate for final ratification, a step that will determine the fate of this controversial legislative package.
With this vote, the parliament indirectly repassed most of the provisions of the Emergency Asylum Measures Act, also taking advantage of the entry into force of the European Compact on Asylum and Migration on June 12, which in turn includes tougher measures such as reducing the duration of residence permits from five to three years.
Agreement on a deportation centre outside Europe
The Netherlands continues to push the migration file towards more rigor at the European level, as it intensifies its consultations with the so-called "leading countries" in this track, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Austria and Greece, in preparation for the establishment of the first reception center for refugees outside the borders of the European Union.
According to a meeting between the ministers of these countries last Thursday ahead of the meeting of the European interior and asylum ministers, there is official optimism that a preliminary agreement can be reached this year, according to German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. The actual implementation of the centres is expected to begin in 2027, where those whose asylum applications have been rejected will be transferred to them.
Dutch Immigration Minister Bart van den Brink stressed that this goal is "the path that the five countries are working on," referring to a growing political consensus within the micro-bloc.
Refugee rights groups have expressed serious concerns that rejected asylum seekers could be sent to countries with which they have no connection, warning that they could be subjected to "inhumane conditions".
The EU and the European Parliament have given the green light to the legal framework that allows for the establishment of deportation centres outside Europe, opening the door to the implementation of this policy for the first time at the EU level.
Despite this support, Van den Brink stresses that the project should be implemented "cautiously" to avoid a repeat of previous failures, most notably the failure of Britain's plan to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda, and the previous Dutch government's failure to implement a similar project aimed at establishing a deportation centre in Uganda.
Benefits for the host country of the deportation center
The Volkskrant newspaper quoted diplomats familiar with the matter as saying that the five EU member states are currently in talks with several countries.
The list of countries in circulation includes Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania, Libya, Ethiopia and Uzbekistan, and these countries are known for their deteriorating human rights records.
According to the Dutch newspaper, the host countries of these centers can rely not only on financing and commercial advantages, but also on supporting the human resources needed to establish water or energy networks.
According to the German Foreign Minister, the deportation centres are necessary to eradicate the trafficking of people smugglers, describing them as an example of a "migration transformation", a radical shift in European asylum policy.
Denmark's Minister of Migration and Integration, Morten Podskopf, assured his EU counterparts that the new centre-left Danish government will continue to implement the same strict asylum policy as its centre-right predecessor.
The "deportation centres" are the final part of the European Migration Convention, which comes into force next Friday, and the agreement provides for the acceleration of asylum procedures, especially for asylum seekers with less chances of obtaining residence permits.
According to European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner, the agreement is "the beginning, not the end," and acknowledged that some countries are not ready to implement the agreement, but does not expect major problems.
Dutch Immigration Minister Van den Brink predicted a "calm and chaotic start" and called the deal "the biggest reform ever" of European asylum policy, which is "crucial" for the Netherlands.
165,000 Syrians in the Netherlands
The number of Syrians currently living in the Netherlands is estimated to be between 160,000 and 165,000, according to data from the Dutch Statistics Office (CBS) and international migration organizations, a figure that includes asylum seekers, citizenship and newly arrived people.
Statistics indicate that there are about 17,000 Syrian asylum seekers in shelters awaiting the decisions of the Department of Immigration and Naturalization (IND), at a time when the first asylum applications have witnessed a significant decline, with only 530 applications during the first three months of 2026, 410 fewer applications compared to the same period in 2025. On the other side, the number of people arriving through reunification increased to about 3,400 during the same period, representing nearly three-quarters of the total Newcomers.
The Dutch government is moving towards a more stringent approach to the Syrian file, adopting an individual assessment of each asylum application rather than a collective classification, and the authorities are also looking into the possibility of deporting some of the rejected to areas they consider "internally safe" inside Syria, a trend that has sparked a wide debate among human rights organizations.