NETHERLANDS: MPs approve two controversial asylum laws ― Reports reveal border police’s use of force against children during forced deportations ― IND calls for end of time delay penalties ― Organiser of vigilante border controls arrested

• The lower house of parliament has approved two draft laws that will significantly tighten asylum rules in the Netherlands.
• An investigative platform has revealed that border police officers used force against children ten times during forced deportations in 2024.
• The Immigration and Naturalisation Service has called for judicial periodic penalties for asylum applications to be abolished.
• A man who organised vigilante border controls on the Netherlands-Germany border in early June has been arrested.

The lower house of parliament has approved two draft laws that will significantly tighten asylum rules in the Netherlands. On 3 July, 95 of the 150 members of the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) voted in favour of the ‘Two Status System Act’ which will create a distinction between refugees who are fleeing persecution for reasons such as their political views, sexual orientation or religion and those who are escaping from wars or natural disasters. Almost the same number (94) also voted in favour of the ‘Asylum Emergency Measures Act’ which will introduce a number of measures, including making it illegal to be undocumented in the Netherlands or to help someone who is. The opposition Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) denounced the amendment that allowed for criminalisation, which was introduced by the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), as “unacceptable” and stated that it was “incomprehensible that so many parties voted in favour”. The CDA’s criticism was echoed by the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) which described the draft laws as “legally untenable” and argued that they would require authorities to “break one law in order to comply with another one”. ECRE member organisation the Dutch Council for Refugees also expressed its concern about the draft laws in a press release issued on 4 July: “The legislation offers no concrete solution to problems surrounding asylum and refugee reception and will not reduce the number of refugees applying for asylum in the Netherlands,” it wrote, adding: “In fact, the laws will only worsen the situation”. “Implementing these laws will only lead to more chaos and uncertainty. This is harmful not only to refugees, but also to society. The Netherlands deserves a feasible and just policy that offers real solutions,” it concluded. The upper house of parliament (Eerste Kamer) – where the caretaker Cabinet has no majority – is due to debate the draft laws after the summer recess.

An investigative platform has revealed that border police officers used force against children ten times during forced deportations in 2024. According to official reports obtained by the Argos radio programme, the Royal Marechaussee (KMar) applied force and physical restraints during forced deportations at least 199 times in 2024 and ten forms “documenting the use of force” were filed. The children’s rights NGO Defence for Children, which reviewed the reports, expressed shock at what it described as “signals indicating unnecessary and excessive violence against children”. “We believe that no violence or liberty-restricting measures should be used on children during deportations if there is no necessity,” said Defence of Children Director Mirjam Blaak, adding: “We question whether, in certain situations, the force that was applied should have been applied at all”. Emeritus Professor of Criminal Law Anton Van Kalmthout defended KMar on the grounds that it is “simply the executor” of decisions taken by the IND. “I am convinced that they find this difficult internally,” he told Argos. His concern was echoed by KMar Brigade Commander Martin Oudman: “When such a deportation is scheduled, there is a certain atmosphere on the work floor the entire week,” he said. In addition, despite the ongoing issues, Van Kalmthout suggested that improvements had been made: “There was a time when they had no training and no debriefing. There was no medical care en route, and then they gave people injections to keep them calm. I criticised that strongly in the past. After that, a complaints committee was created,” he said.

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) has called for judicial periodic penalties for asylum applications to be abolished.  In an implementation report published on 25 June, the service argued that rather than protecting asylum applicants from unreasonable delays, the system has become “counterproductive”. It also noted that it paid €36.8 million in penalties in 2024 and that it had already paid €25 million in the first five months of 2025. Explaining the service’s concerns, IND Director-General Rhodia Maas said: “People are entitled to get quick decisions, but penalty procedures are preventing that from happening. We certainly want to make faster decisions, but we are simply unable to do so. Periodic penalty procedures are only making the situation worse”. “The system is not fit for purpose and the whole thing is a waste of time and capacity, which we would be better off using to process asylum applications,” she added.

A man who organised vigilante border controls on the Netherlands-Germany border in early June has been arrested. The 54-year old man from Emmen (Drenthe province) was arrested on 20 June on suspicion of trying to coerce public officials after he posted on social media that “20 times as many civilians would join in the border controls” if the police did not respond to his ultimatum regarding increasing the number of official border patrols. The arrest came after several weeks of groups of civilians conducting unauthorised border controls in the villages of Ter Apel and Sellingen close to the border. “Border control is the responsibility of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, not of individual citizens. That is why we are taking action. There is no room for vigilantism,” the heads of the regional offices of the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and district police said in a joint statement. The arrested man had previously expressed disappointment that the vigilante border controls had “unfortunately” failed to find any people seeking asylum “or dark people or something that looks like that”.

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