Netherlands submits request to opt out of EU rules on asylum

The Netherlands has requested an opt-out from the European Union’s rules on asylum as part of a tough new immigration drive.

Writing on X, Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber said the country had “made history” with the request. “I have just informed the European Commission that I want a migration 'opt-out' on migration matters in Europe for the Netherlands,” wrote Ms Faber, a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) led by Geert Wilders. “We have to handle our own asylum policy once more!” she added.

Under the pact, each EU country is assigned a share – proportional to economy and population – of the total 30,000 asylum seekers that the bloc is expected to take in per year. Countries unwilling to take people in would instead contribute to those that are willing with personnel, equipment or funds.

According to EU data, the Netherlands received two first-time asylum applications per 1,000 residents in 2023, close to the bloc's average. Ten member states had a higher proportion. However, after years of budget cuts, its sole registration centre for asylum seekers is often overwhelmed, occasionally leaving hundreds to sleep outdoors.

Denmark has already managed to negotiate an agreement to keep it outside the EU's common asylum policy. However, the European Commission said “immediate changes” to the Netherlands’ arrangements were unlikely.

“We do not expect any immediate changes under new rules on the side of migration which continue to be binding on the Netherlands,” said Anitta Hipper, a commission spokeswoman for home affairs, migration and internal security. The Dutch coalition government, which took power in July, has been promising the opt-out move for several months, but Mr Wilders has himself admitted that getting such an opt-out could take years.

“A Dutch opt-out can only be realised by amending the treaty,” the Dutch Advisory Council on Migration said, pointing out that all 27 EU member states had to agree to the move. This is not very likely because the number of asylum seekers must then be distributed among fewer other member states,” council members Mark Klaassen and Laura Kok wrote on its website.

“Not every member state will be enthusiastic about this,” they said. No EU treaty change is expected any time soon.

Geert Wilders through the years – in pictures

The country unveiled a new immigration policy on Friday, which Prime Minister Dick Schoof said was in response to an ‘asylum crisis’. We cannot continue to bear the large influx of migrants into our country,” he said.

King Willem-Alexander, in his speech setting out the government's priorities at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, described it as a “faster, stricter and more modest” asylum. NSC acting parliamentary leader Nicolien van Vroonhoven said on Monday that her party would vote for tough immigration measures only if the Council of State advisory body approved it. That led to a furious reaction from Mr Wilders, who posted on X: “the Netherlands has a huge asylum crisis and it will not be solved by running away in advance and threatening … to vote no.”

The request comes after Germany ordered entry checks on its entire land border earlier this month, amid a suspension of free travel under the Schengen zone to curb illegal migration and contain the “acute danger” from extremism. The move was in response to the deaths of three people and wounding of eight others in a stabbing attack claimed by Islamic State at a festival in Solingen.

Checks were already in place at Germany's borders with Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Poland, and for France during the Olympics and Paralympics. But the scheme has now been expanded to Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and will last six months. Countries across the continent are looking to toughen their stance on immigration, including Italy, which has developed a scheme that will see will see Albania – which lies across the Adriatic Sea to the east of Italy – host two holding centres for migrants rescued in Italian waters.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently said he was interested in the Italian scheme after abandoning the previous Conservative government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. Recent analysis from The National has found that more migrants are being packed on to flimsy boats before attempting dangerous Channel crossings to reach the UK.

Boats are now carrying more than 60 migrants, on average, with the number often increasing to more than 70. This has resulted in more deaths being directly linked to overcrowding, with recent reports of migrants being crushed during crossings.

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Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

While you're here

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Khaled Yacoub Oweis: Hezbollah bids to control Lebanon’s financial system

National Editorial: Hezbollah's murky dealings in Iraq have been unveiled

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From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.

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The essentials

What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

When: Friday until March 9

Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City

Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.

Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.

Information: www.emirateslitfest.com

Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

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Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?

Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269

*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year

Brief scoreline:

Manchester United 2

Rashford 28', Martial 72'

Watford 1

Doucoure 90'

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950