The cabinet is exaggerating the number of migrants coming to the Netherlands by including children born here in the figures, GroenLinks MP Tofik Dibi said on Monday.
Dibi says ministers are inflating the figures to legitimise their relationship with the anti-Islam PVV, which wants sharp cuts in immigration levels in return for its support on the economy.
‘It is bizarre. You would think ministers were pleased the figures are not as high as they make them out to be,’ Dibi told news agency ANP.
Immigration minister Gerd Leers said the cabinet does not plan to alter the way it calculates immigration totals because babies born to foreigners need residency permits as well.