If an asylum-seeker makes an application for asylum in a safe place beyond the EU borders in the future, following the assessment of their application they will be given a safe passage in Europe based on the refugee allocation agreements made within the EU. It will no longer be possible to make applications in the Netherlands and this means that the applicant will be returned to a safe non-EU area. These areas include countries such as Turkey and Jordan.

In exchange for these safe hotspots the Netherlands would amply cooperate with the proposed mandatory allocation of refugees within the EU.

The State Secretary acknowledged that the plan is unachievable in the short term. There are further objections, however.

There is no legal basis in EU law. The responsibility and liability of EU member states and other actors is obscure. The qualification standards must be harmonised. The procedure for receiving refugees in the region must comply with EU standards. Clarity must be obtained on how to deal with rejected asylum-seekers. More asylum applications are likely to be made in the region. And which location is appropriate for application centres? The EU will need to find a country that from a material and social perspective has the ability and is willing to accommodate the centre. Needless to say opening an application centre outside the EU does not mean that no more asylum-seekers will come to Europe and apply for asylum. If they do register in the Netherlands, failure to consider their application would violate the Refugee Convention. Moreover, absolutely nothing will be resolved for the so-called economic migrants who are just as likely to drown when they place their fate in the hands of human traffickers. The European proposals – a separate EU office for refugee affairs, reallocation, hotspots, a more effective return policy – for the present indeed constitute the tightening of current policy, but for the most part continue along the old pathway. This is inadequate for a real solution.