Netherlands signs MoU with Uganda to deport rejected asylum seekers
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The Netherlands signs a migration agreement with Uganda to deport rejected asylum seekers, aiming to ease political pressure over immigration.
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Two immigrants talk outside a shopping mall in Ter Apel, north-eastern Netherlands, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (AP)
The Netherlands has signed a memorandum of understanding with Uganda to deport rejected asylum seekers through the African country in an effort to assuage voter unrest over immigration.
According to a statement from the Dutch government on Thursday, the agreement stipulates that rejected African asylum seekers will be deported from the Netherlands to Uganda for temporary housing in a reception center before they return to their own country.
The goal is for this process to be voluntary, but the transit hub could also be used in cases when a rejected asylum seeker or their country of origin refuses to cooperate on their return, the statement said.
Dutch Minister of Asylum and Migration and Foreign Affairs, David van Weel, stated, “We need to start looking at what is possible. That’s why we’re taking this step together with Uganda to get a handle on migration.”
The agreement comes one year after Prime Minister Dick Schoof’s government first floated the prospect of an agreement with Uganda, following the cabinet's vow to implement the country’s “strictest-ever” migration policies.
The Schoof government has since collapsed after far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his Freedom Party out of the ruling coalition, claiming his coalition partners had failed to move fast enough on his plans to curb immigration, with the Netherlands now due to hold fresh elections on October 29.
