TER APEL, Netherlands (AP) — The issue of immigration is reaching a breaking point in the small town of Ter Apel, as the Netherlands prepares for parliamentary elections on November 22. Candidates from various political parties are campaigning on promises to address the challenges associated with migration, which are exemplified by the situation in Ter Apel. The town, located northeast of Amsterdam, was once known for its monastery but has now become synonymous with the Dutch struggle to accommodate a large number of asylum-seekers.
In the summer of 2022, the reception center in Ter Apel was so overcrowded that hundreds of migrants were forced to sleep outside. Doctors Without Borders even had to deploy a team within the Netherlands for the first time to assist the migrants. Despite efforts to alleviate the situation, the center remains overcrowded, leading to complaints from locals about increased crime and public order problems caused by migrants wandering in small groups through the village.
However, the migration issue in the Netherlands extends beyond asylum seekers. Political parties are also pledging to address concerns surrounding labor migrants and foreign students, who now make up a significant portion of university enrollments.
Henk Tapper, a local resident, plans to vote for Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party, which advocates for a halt in the acceptance of asylum seekers and the withdrawal from EU and United Nations agreements and treaties related to refugees and asylum.
The migration debate in the Netherlands reflects a broader European issue, with governments and the European Union seeking ways to manage and control migration. Italy recently announced plans to house asylum seekers in Albania, while Germany has implemented measures to curb the high number of migrants entering the country.
In the face of these challenges, many Dutch voters are calling for stricter domestic policies, which marks a shift from the country’s historically open approach to refugees. One of the leading candidates to succeed Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Dilan Yeşilgöz, herself a former refugee, advocates for making the Netherlands less welcoming. Yeşilgöz, the leader of the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), believes that the country’s attractive laws and regulations compared to neighboring nations contribute to the influx of migrants.
The upcoming parliamentary elections are expected to be closely contested, with the VVD and the newly formed conservative populist party New Social Contract leading in polls against a center-left bloc of Labor and Green Left.
According to official Dutch statistics, over 400,000 migrants arrived in the Netherlands last year, including asylum seekers, foreign workers, and international students. The influx was further fueled by thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict caused by Russia’s invasion.
The debate about migration has sparked strong opinions from individuals like Ekram Jalboutt, a Palestinian-born woman who was granted asylum in the Netherlands. Jalboutt expresses her disapproval of using migration as a political tool and believes it should not be exploited for personal gain.
The New Social Contract party, along with the VVD, aims to set a “guideline” ceiling of 50,000 migrants permitted into the Netherlands each year, including asylum seekers, labor migrants, and students. They also propose differentiating between those fleeing persecution and those fleeing war, with the latter group having fewer rights, such as family reunification. However, discussions on such measures led to the collapse of the previous Dutch ruling coalition in July.
Another issue intertwined with migration is the chronic shortage of housing in the densely populated Netherlands. Critics argue that refugees are given priority for social housing, bypassing Dutch citizens who may have been on waiting lists for years.
The Dutch Refugee Council acknowledges that refugees constitute only a small proportion of those who receive fast-tracked social housing, but they caution against oversimplifying the political debate on asylum and migration.
The upcoming elections will determine the direction of the Netherlands’ migration policies, as the nation grapples with the ongoing challenges posed by immigration.
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