International
The Netherlands plans to reintroduce border controls in November to curb migration
The Dutch Government agreed on Friday on a package of “emergency measures” to “relieve the pressure” on the asylum system, by which it plans to reintroduce border controls from the end of November to return to Germany and Belgium irregular migrants and refugees who have requested asylum in another European country.
The Dutch cabinet, a four-party coalition that includes the radical right of Geert Wilders, considers that the Netherlands is “in an asylum crisis” and the current regime is “unsustainable,” which makes it “necessary to act immediately with a package of measures to relieve and reduce the pressure on the asylum system.”
“From the end of November, border controls will be carried out based on article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code.
Irregular migrants, including asylum seekers who have already applied for asylum in other European countries, will be returned to Germany and Belgium,” the government said in a letter to Parliament.
The Executive will present “as soon as possible” a new rule, the “Law of Emergency Measures for Asylum,” and its entry into force “will be immediately after its publication” in the Official Gazette.
“The accommodation capacity is overwhelmed, requests cannot be processed on time, generating long waiting lists, and some of the applicants cause great inconvenience. People entitled to protection cannot advance in the process, and some asylum seekers who do not have the right to stay do not leave the country,” the cabinet argued.
Temporary asylum
The government will eliminate the indefinite residence permit for refugees and reduce the duration of the temporary leave to three years, instead of five, “thus generating awareness that it is temporary,” said Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who promised that “entries will decrease and exits will increase,” since the possibility of regrouping adult children or an unmarried couple will also be ended.
Likewise, next year, it will enable 50 to 100 additional cells for “the detention of foreigners,” which will be “intended for asylum seekers who have exhausted their process or are in an illegal situation, to be deported to their country of origin.”
Syria, key
The asylum policy for Syria, a country at war since 2011, will “be significantly tightened,” warned the cabinet, which will temporarily limit the refugees that the Netherlands will receive as part of the resettlement agreements under the UN framework to a maximum of 200.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will publish a report before the end of the year identifying “safe areas” in Syria, and asylum seekers from those areas will no longer be eligible for asylum and must return to the Arab country, while the possibility of revoking the residence permit of refugees already legally settled is evaluated.
Wilders’ PVV and the Christian Democratic party NSC, the two partners with the most differences within the coalition, have agreed on these measures in meetings they have held in recent weeks, and on Wednesday they have been joined by the other two partners, the liberals of the VVD and the party of farmers BBB, who have given their approval to the agreed package of measures.
Wilders has had to renounce the application of a controversial national emergency law, with which he intended to suspend part of the Aliens Law and jump to Parliament to apply a heavy hand with refugees, but even so, he now hopes that these “extreme” measures will please his electorate, to whom he has promised “the strictest asylum regime in history” in the Netherlands.
International
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
France’s Parliament is expected to approve legislation on Tuesday banning children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms, following an agreement reached Monday between lawmakers on the mechanism to enforce the measure.
The initiative is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s broader effort to strengthen online protections for minors and regulate children’s screen time before the end of his second presidential term in May 2027.
“Tomorrow, France will become the first country in Europe to establish a digital age of majority to better protect our children online,” Digital Affairs Minister Anne Le Hénanff said Monday in a post on X.
If approved, the government plans to implement the restriction in September, when students return to school after the summer holidays.
The United Kingdom has already passed similar legislation restricting social media access for users under the age of 16, although that measure is scheduled to take effect in early 2027.
Both the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, and the Senate are expected to hold final votes on the legislation Tuesday after a joint committee of seven senators and seven lawmakers reached an agreement on the bill’s final wording.
Under the proposed law, children under 15 years old would be prohibited from accessing online social media services, with limited exceptions for certain platforms, including online encyclopedias.
The legislation would make France the first member of the European Union to introduce a nationwide minimum digital age for access to social media platforms, reflecting a growing international movement to strengthen online safeguards for children and teenagers.
International
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) made limited progress during the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) tasked with finalizing a key annex to the global pandemic agreement, prompting negotiators to schedule another round of talks in September.
The session, which opened on July 6 and concluded last week at WHO headquarters in Geneva, focused on drafting and negotiating the annex covering the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, a central component of the pandemic accord.
Without the completion of the PABS annex, the global pandemic agreement cannot enter into force.
The annex had originally been expected to be finalized before May 2026, but negotiations have progressed more slowly than anticipated.
In a statement, the WHO said member states “advanced negotiations” on the PABS system while acknowledging that additional discussions are required to complete a framework capable of supporting a faster, more effective and more equitable response to future pandemics.
The organization announced that an eighth round of negotiations will take place on September 14.
Despite the limited progress, delegates succeeded in streamlining the draft text and concentrating discussions on several technical issues.
According to the WHO, negotiators focused on the contractual arrangements underpinning the PABS mechanism, the laboratory networks responsible for handling and sharing pathogens and their genetic sequence data, as well as the framework for distributing the benefits generated through the sharing of those pathogens.
The PABS system is considered one of the most important elements of the future pandemic agreement, as it aims to ensure timely access to pathogens for scientific research while establishing fair mechanisms for sharing the benefits derived from vaccines, diagnostics and other medical countermeasures developed during future global health emergencies.
International
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
Iran declared on Monday that it is facing a “full-scale war” against the United States after Washington carried out another wave of overnight airstrikes, including attacks near a city that hosts one of the country’s nuclear facilities.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country must prepare for the consequences of the ongoing conflict, describing the situation as a broad military confrontation.
“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” Pezeshkian said in a statement released by the presidency. “We must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance.”
The latest U.S. strikes marked the ninth consecutive night of military operations, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which announced the attacks on X.
Since hostilities resumed on July 7, U.S. air operations have expanded well beyond southern Iran, reaching central and northwestern regions of the country, according to local sources.
Local authorities reported that one person was killed and several others injured in Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Persian Gulf.
Additional casualties were reported in the nearby city of Urmia, where several people were wounded during separate strikes.
Washington said the attacks targeted military installations. However, Iranian officials accused the United States of striking populated areas, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant.
Iran also reported that the Darkhovin nuclear facility, which is still under construction, was among the sites hit during the latest attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the renewed military campaign was carried out in honor of American service members killed in recent days.
Two U.S. soldiers died on Friday during attacks on a military base in Jordan, while another service member was killed on Sunday during the controlled disposal of unexploded munitions from an Iranian drone in northern Iraq.
According to U.S. figures, 17 American troops have been killed since the conflict began on February 28.
On the Iranian side, the latest official figures released on Friday reported 50 deaths and more than 500 injuries since fighting resumed earlier this month.
A memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the United States on June 17, which had been intended to pave the way for peace negotiations, collapsed after hostilities resumed over the strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping routes.
French Parliament Moves to Approve Social Media Age Limit for Minors
WHO to Hold New Round of Talks After Slow Progress on Pandemic Accord
Iran Says It Is in “Full-Scale War” as U.S. Launches Ninth Consecutive Night of Airstrikes
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