Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders unveils a 10-point plan to slash migration in the Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders announced a 10-point plan Monday that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers.

The proposals put further strain on the fractious four-party ruling coalition that was cobbled together after Wilders’ Party for Freedom swept to victory in a 2023 Dutch election on a platform pledging to slash migration.

“The gloves are off,” Wilders said. He added that if migration policy is not toughened up, his party “is out of the Cabinet.”

Wilders has built his political career on calling for hard-line policies against Islam and migration in the Netherlands. Long in opposition, his party now has power and he said his patience has run out after months of talks and little action from the coalition to crack down on migration.

He said he wants to temporarily halt family reunions for asylum-seekers who have been granted refugee status, and to return to their home country Syrians who have applied for asylum or are in the Netherlands on temporary visas, arguing that much of Syria is now safe. Migrants who are convicted of violent or sexual crimes should be deported, he added, calling it a “one strike you’re out” policy.

Wilders said some of the measures already have been adopted by other European nations, including neighboring Germany. Others will require the Netherlands stepping out of European conventions, he said.

Earlier this month, Germany’s new interior minister announced plans to station more police at the border to curb illegal migration and even turn away some of the asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe’s biggest economy.

Ministers in the Dutch coalition would have to reach agreement on the proposals before sending them to parliament for approval. That could mean renegotiating the government policy agreement that paved the way for the creation of the government made up of Wilders’ Party for Freedom, the right-wing People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the reformist New Social Contract and populist Farmers Citizens Movement.

Wilders said his patience was exhausted at the lack of concrete action since the coalition agreed measures in October including including a re-introduction of border checks, a move to restrict family members who can join a person who has been granted asylum in the Netherlands and cutting the length of temporary visas.

He said measures agreed earlier by the coalition “are not enough to turn the tide.”

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