Although a proposal by the ruling VVD to close Europe’s borders to refugees is a ‘fine plan’, it is unlikely to become an issue this cabinet because of the agreement with the Labour party, the VVD’s parliamentary leader Halbe Zijkstra told BNR radio.

‘We are part of the coalition agreement and so is the cabinet,’ he said. ‘I cannot force the Labour party to accept something which is not in that agreement.’

‘But nor can the Labour party stop me from thinking,’ he said.

The VVD late on Sunday published a paper calling for Europe’s borders to be closed to refugees and stating refugees should be looked after in their own region.

The plan was dismissed by legal and EU experts as unworkable.

Regional issues

The European statistics office Eurostat estimates a sharp rise in refugees coming to Europe last year at 626,000, up 44% on 2013.

The Netherlands was seventh on the list of popular countries with 26,210 requests, compared with just over 17,000 in 2013. Germany was the most popular destination, with one-third of the total, followed by Sweden with 81,000.

Despite the VVD’s calls for closed borders, most refugees already settle in their own region.

The United Nation estimates over 51 million people left their homes last year because of war or terrorism, of whom 16.5 million sought refuge in another country. Of them, just 626,000 made it to Europe.