Commission accuses Verdonk of hampering work

4 October 2005

AMSTERDAM — The independent commission investigating the implications of the tough Dutch asylum laws has disbanded.

The commission said on Tuesday it had decided to halt its work on behalf of the association of Dutch municipalities (VNG) because it was being obstructed by Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk.

The VNG said the minister had refused to give the commission access to agencies and civil servants involved in the deportation of failed asylum seekers. The opportunity to visit asylum seekers awaiting deportation was also denied, the VNG claimed.

The chairman of the commission, Schelto Patijn, handed back the assignment to the VNG, which is to discuss the issue at the end of the month.

The commission was formed to investigate complaints from local authorities about the decision to expel 26,000 asylum seekers who have re-established their lives in the Netherlands while waiting for a decision from the Immigration Service.

Verdonk said on Tuesday that the commission was superfluous and that it was intolerable that a commission set up by local authorities would seek to supervise the work of her officials.

It was up to parliament to do that, she said.

Subject: Dutch news