On 9 December, the Netherlands will begin planned border controls at the crossings with Germany and Belgium.
The border police will deploy mobile teams focused on combating “illegal migration and the smuggling of migrants”, according to Marjolein Faber, the right-wing minister for asylum in The Hague. The minister emphasised that these checks were aimed at minimising disruption to private border traffic and lorries. While she did not specify any specific measures to achieve this, she confirmed that she would be in contact with the border regions on the matter.
Minister Faber noted that the checks would occur at ‘fixed locations,’ though she did not disclose these locations at this time. A government representative further stated that resources in the Royal Gendarmerie remain sufficient to staff these checks for an extended period.
‘Not all cars will be stopped, only those where grounds for suspicion exist. The Royal Gendarmerie already conducts such checks, but they are currently sporadic,’ the minister explained, as quoted by the ad.nl news portal.