Internal border controls come into force in the Netherlands on Monday.
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As reported on the website of the Royal Military Police, as of December 9, the Netherlands will introduce temporary border controls at internal borders, which will last for six months. This decision was made by the country’s authorities to combat illegal migration and cross-border crime.
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Checks can be carried out at any point on the border with neighboring Belgium and Germany.
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The Royal Military Police will also check international trains arriving from the Schengen area. Only certain flights that may pose a risk in terms of illegal migration and cross-border crime will be subject to screening at airports.
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There are approximately 840 border crossing points in the Netherlands. The military police union Marver, as previously reported by the Telegraaf newspaper, believes that the authorities will not be able to deploy law enforcement officers at every checkpoint due to the severe reduction in personnel over the past 25 years.
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According to the union, military police will be able to provide only about 50 people for temporary border control, but the border is quite long and requires the presence of hundreds of additional border guards. To provide round-the-clock security at all border crossings would require thousands of employees.
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In this regard, most border checks from Monday are more likely to be “mobile”, that is, without the constant presence of staff.
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The Dutch government at the end of October – after several weeks of negotiations – agreed on new measures to tighten migration policy. These measures include the introduction of internal border controls, the abolition of indefinite residence permits for refugees and their replacement with a three-year document, the return of Syrian refugees to safe areas of Syria and the denial of residence permits to Syrians arriving from such areas in the Netherlands, as well as the expedited deportation of convicted persons for criminal offenses by asylum seekers.
