| Description |
Since 1996 the problem of countries that do not cooperate or cooperate insufficiently
in the return of their nationals has repeatedly been the subject of political debate in the
Netherlands. In the intervening decades, the Netherlands has developed various policy
strategies aimed at inducing countries of origin to improve their cooperation in forced
return. Since 2011, when the first government led by Prime Minister Rutte took office,
these strategies have been subsumed under the heading ‘strategic country approach to
migration’.
The Advisory Committee on Migration Affairs (ACVZ) describes this approach as
follows.
Description of the strategic country approach to migration
A strategic country approach to migration exists if a link is made between forced
return policy and one or more other policy areas. These policy areas may lie within
or outside migration policy and be the responsibility of ministries other than the
Ministry of Security and Justice. A customised approach is the key. Both positive
and negative measures may be employed to achieve the aim. These incentives may
be offered to countries of origin provided they cooperate in readmission. This is
known as ‘conditionality’. In addition the message to cooperate in forced return is
repeatedly transmitted in all contacts and at every level in relations with the country
concerned.
The State Secretary of Security and Justice and the Minister for Foreign Trade and
Development Cooperation asked the ACVZ to carry out an evaluation and issue an
advisory report on the strategic country approach to migration. This report complies with
that request.
The research questions are:
• How has the strategic country approach to migration been shaped in the Netherlands
in recent years and what are the results?
• To what extent can the strategic country approach to migration be more effectively
deployed as an instrument in migration policy?
The preference under Dutch migration policy is for independent return by foreign
nationals who are not allowed to remain. Forced return is seen as a necessary element of
a consistent return policy. This advisory report confines itself to measures to obtain the
cooperation of countries of origin in the forced return of their nationals. They consist of
undocumented or insufficiently documented failed asylum-seekers and other persons
residing illegally in the Netherlands who have the nationality of the country of origin and
who do not leave independently, with or without assistance.
The ACVZ’s research was focused on the 32 countries of origin on the Focus Country
acvz -july 2015 8 The str ategic country approach to migr ation
List of January 2015 drawn up by the Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V).1 The
government has awarded priority to nine countries on this list (known as the ‘Cabinet
countries’): Afghanistan, Algeria, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Iraq, Morocco and
Somalia/Somaliland.
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