(Bloomberg) -- The Dutch government has floated deporting rejected African asylum seekers to Uganda, as the Netherlands explores ways to limit the flow of immigrants.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Thursday said there was a need to discuss solutions that work best to send asylum seekers back. Schoof, who is attending a summit in Brussels with all 27 European Union leaders, said he would discuss with his counterparts the possibility of Uganda hosting Africans who are denied asylum.
“These are innovative solutions in which my colleagues are interested in, in theory,” Schoof told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. “The idea is rooted in the thought that asylum seekers who failed to obtain residence can be sent back to a hub, and from thereon can return to their country of origin,” he said.
The Dutch considerations come as EU leaders discuss the bloc’s broader migration policy. While Germany recently extended border checks with its neighbors, Poland plans to tighten asylum rights to cut down undocumented migration.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for member states to look into setting up “return hubs” in non-EU countries where migrants could be accommodated while their asylum application is considered. Italian authorities this week said the first group of migrants was sent to Albania, as part of an agreement to host asylum seekers.
The Netherlands’ new right-wing cabinet has vowed to implement the country’s strictest-ever migration policies. It seeks to introduce an asylum crisis law that could entail freezing decisions on asylum applications and forcibly deporting people without a residence permit.
“There are too many immigrants. People start looking for creative solutions,” far-right politician Geert Wilders said in Brussels on Thursday.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.