Professors: The Netherlands alone cannot stop the flow of asylum seekers

“It is very difficult because the impact of politics on the flow of refugees is limited,” says Hein de Haas, a professor of sociology at the University of California who specializes in migration. “It is a complete illusion that you can hermetically shut down Europe unless you turn the EU into something like North Korea.”

Ruud Koopmans, professor of sociology and migration at Humboldt University in Berlin, agrees that the Netherlands cannot do much on its own, especially as long as we are a member of the European Union. He believes, unlike De Haas, that taking measures at Europe's external borders is a way to reduce the flow of migrants to the Netherlands. “Then there is a need for agreements with transit countries, for example in Africa, through which asylum seekers pass on their way to Europe.”

willing

According to Koopmans, our country should enter into a “coalition of the willing” with other European countries such as Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. This alliance must then conclude deals with those transit countries.

“These deals should be about returning rejected asylum seekers and starting asylum procedures in those countries for people who want to go to Europe,” Koopmans said. “They must then wait for the outcome of the procedure there.”

deep breath

De Haas doesn't see that happening anytime soon. He sees more in better agreements on the distribution of refugees within the European Union. “But this is a long-term issue, and you cannot simply arrange this. We must have a dispersion policy not only within the Netherlands, but also within Europe.”

De Haas believes that better and similar asylum procedures across the EU could also help. “But even in this case, the flow of asylum will increase if a conflict arises somewhere near Europe. Because stopping asylum or something similar as Wilders suggests is absolutely impossible. If people want to go somewhere, it is very difficult to stop them.”

Almost zero

Koopmans is more hopeful: “Controlling migration is actually possible. This was proven in Europe by the Turkish agreement in 2016. Within a few weeks of this agreement, the number of asylum seekers who wanted to come to Europe via the Aegean Sea decreased.” “To almost zero.”

According to him, it is better to stop migration: “The real challenge is to do so in a way that does justice to our international obligations and is also morally defensible. Stopping migration is not difficult, it is difficult to do so under difficult circumstances.” “Humane way.” To do that. This is the challenge that the formed parties face.