Asylum seekers who travel to the Netherlands via Italy will be sent back to that country from next Friday. Today, Minister Van den Brink of Asylum and Migration signed a declaration of intent about this in Rome with his Italian counterpart Piantedosi.

According to the rules of the EU Dublin Treaty, asylum seekers must submit their application in the first country they arrive in. But Italy, where many migrants set foot on European soil, has not been taking back people who have traveled on to other Member States such as the Netherlands for a number of years.

Van den Brink says that he has agreed with Piantedosi that when the European Migration Pact comes into force on June 12, the old rules will be resumed and that Italy will then take back asylum seekers. “That is crucial for the Netherlands to ensure that the pact fully functions.”

According to the minister, the two countries are “starting with a clean slate”. This means that people who reported to the Netherlands before June 12 will not be sent back. The migration pact states that countries can choose to take in asylum seekers from countries such as Italy and Greece to relieve them, but that they can also buy this off with money or other assistance. Van den Brink now chooses the latter.

The Netherlands will also work more closely with the Italians to realize the return of failed asylum seekers and to combat human smuggling in countries such as Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Many people from more southern parts of Africa are trafficked through those North African countries. If they can be sent back to where they came from, then they will not make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean.

The Netherlands has similar agreements with Greece, another country where many asylum seekers enter the EU.