More than 1,100 religious leaders in the Netherlands have signed a petition against the right-wing Dutch government’s “strictest refugee policy ever,” Trouw reported on Thursday.

The plans, which include scrapping permanent residency permits, reintroducing border checks, and sending refugees back to “safe” parts of Syria, are “extremely concerning,” the signatories say. They also urge the government to show “justice and mercy.”

In total, 1,153 priests, imams, and rabbis and others have signed the document, which is addressed to prime minister Dick Schoof, the paper said.

“When I read the words in the coalition agreement I thought ‘this is not my country’,” Jan de Beer, who drew up the petition, told Trouw. “Shivers went down my spine… the cabinet’s message is that we don’t want to help refugees. And ministers are proud of this. It is so cold-hearted.”

De Beer told the paper there were parallels with the way the Netherlands dealt with German Jews applying for asylum in the 1930s, when they were told “no.”

“A refugee will henceforth be considered an undesirable element in Dutch society,” he quotes a letter from the period as saying.

Earlier this week, the Dutch Council of Churches issued a press release condemning the government’s planned cuts to spending on aid, which they say go against the key values of brotherly love and caring for the poor.