In Germany, there is a debate about whether and how further cuts should be made to asylum seekers. In the Netherlands, rejected applicants will have their benefits completely cut from next year. But there is resistance.
The Netherlands no longer wants to pay for the accommodation of rejected asylum seekers. “From January 1, 2025, the state contribution for the accommodation of people who should have left the country long ago will be stopped,” said Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber.
She has consulted with the five major cities that offer emergency accommodation under the so-called bed-bath-bread scheme. “I am committed to return and not to subsidized accommodation,” said the minister, who belongs to the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of the Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders.
Amsterdam wants to continue paying
Since 2019, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Groningen have provided basic care for rejected asylum seekers to prevent those affected from causing nuisance as homeless people. The cities are now free to continue caring for these refugees at their own expense. Amsterdam has already announced that it will continue to do so at least next year.
As the public broadcaster NOS reported, the Dutch government has so far spent around 30 million euros annually on accommodating rejected asylum seekers. This was seen as an interim step until the migrants return to their country of origin, leave for another country or are granted the right to stay in the Netherlands.
Similar demands in Germany
This week, FDP politician Joachim Stamp, among others, also called for social benefits to be cut for all those required to leave the country.
“All those who are required to leave the country immediately should only receive a ticket for the flight home and a small start-up grant of a few hundred euros after arriving in the destination country,” said the former Integration Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.
