Jorrit Rijpma: A temporary asylum stop is in breach of European Convention on Human Rights
In the Netherlands, various local VVD parties are calling for an asylum stop. Other political parties, Ja21, BBB, PVV and FvD, also see an asylum stop as the solution to the continuing asylum problems. Earlier, an opinion poll showed that a majority (69 per cent) of the Dutch population agrees. Is an asylum stop a realistic solution to the current asylum crisis?
A temporary asylum stop would mean that it is no longer possible to apply for asylum in Ter Apel – the central reception location for foreign national seeking asylum in the Netherlands – not that refugees will no longer come here. Under international and European law, it’s not permitted to refuse refugees at the border. Hungary and Poland did that before, broke the EU treaty and were condemned for it by the European Court of Justice. So far this has not had any consequences.
‘We wouldn’t want to be counted among this category of countries’, says Jorrit Rijpma, Professor of European Law, in Dutch newspaper Trouw. He says it’s unfortunate when politicians act as if an asylum stop is a real possibility. ‘That reduces the support base for a real solution and goes against the European Convention on Human Rights.’