Criminal immigrants, long-term prisoners and female convicts should be transferred to the northern provinces to stop planned prison closures there, Drenthe queen’s commissioner Jacques Tichelaar says in the Dagblad van het Noorden.

At the moment, the justice ministry tries to house prisoners as close to home as possible to maintain ties with family and friends and reduce re-offending rates.
Tichelaar is quoted as saying it is of less importance to long-term prisoners, immigrants and foreigners that they be jailed close to home. And moving them to Drenthe and Groningen would compensate for the lack of criminals in northern areas.
The government is believed to be planning to concentrate the prison population in the central urban belt known as the Randstad, Overijssel and Noord-Brabant provinces. This would be cheaper and more efficient, leaked documents said last week.
The website summary does not explain Tichelaar’s reasoning for moving women away from home.
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