Dutch stop cars at border: citizens take quite a way of taking their hands!

Dutch stop cars at border: citizens take quite a way of taking their hands!

In a worrying development at the Dutch-German border, citizens in the Netherlands took the initiative on Tuesday to carry out vehicle controls. These controls took place on the federal road 408, which leads from Haren (EMS) to the central recording facility in Ter Apel. Participants, including about twelve men, were equipped with warning vests and lamps and stopped cars, which was classified and expressly banned by the police and the border community Westerwolde. Migration Minister David van Weel appealed to the population not to take the right into their own hands and criticized the actions of the citizens' initiative, which also resulted in social media, as Weser-Kurier reported.

The background of these unconventional measures lie in the tense discussion about asylum policy in the Netherlands. This discussion escalated on Tuesday when the Dutch government broke in the dispute over a harder asylum policy. Against this background, Geert Wilders, the leader of the right-wing populist party for freedom (PVV), also emerged from the four-party coalition. Wilders had repeatedly called for a drastic tightening of immigration policy, including border closures for asylum seekers and the deportation of convicted offenders with double citizenship. He explained on platform X that there would be no agreement on the asylum plans and announced that all PVV minister would resign from the cabinet. This development could result in new elections in the Netherlands, while a executive government will lead the skill until then, reports Tagesschau .

political implications

The departure of Wilders, whose party is the largest in parliament, represents a significant political upheaval. Before the withdrawal, the PVV had received the most votes in the parliamentary election in November 2023, but did not use government responsibility. In the past few weeks, the coalition of internal disputes about migration policy has been burdened, which was discussed in a meeting of the four government parties before Wilder's announcement. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dick Schoof called for responsible action in the face of international challenges.

The situation is viewed against the background of the current trends for migration in Europe. While Germany is planning increased border controls, other EU countries, such as Austria, see a way to create mood against refugees. The EU Commission has reacted to the increasing protests and refers to the asylum and migration pact, but the implementation of which is only at the beginning, as SRF . Short -term improvements for the migrant situation are therefore unlikely, even if the number of asylum applications in the EU was slightly declining in the first half of 2024.

The continued discussion about asylum policy not only reflects the disagreements within the Netherlands, but is also part of a wider debate about the handling of migration in Europe. In this context, the Dutch government takes steps to reduce the influx of asylum seekers, which could increase the pressure on neighboring countries and the EU as a whole.