MPs want 130,000 civilians trained to support the police, army and emergency services during major crises, and have asked the cabinet to open up defence ministry facilities to help make it happen.
A majority in parliament backed a motion by the centrist Christian Democrat CDA on Tuesday calling for that number of so-called civilian reservists within 4 years, public broadcaster NOS reported.
The volunteers would not join the armed forces, but would be a support force around them. Their specific role would be to stop chaos breaking out in the first three days of a disaster, when the emergency and security services are not expected to cope alone.
According to NOS, they would be trained in 3 areas – technical, logistics and security – drawing on people such as mechanics, drivers and security guards.
MPs want the cabinet to help in kind rather than with money, by making defence ministry training grounds and classrooms available free of charge. The cabinet has said it shares the aim.
From 1,000 to 130,000
The 130,000 figure matches the long-term target of De BurgerReserve, a privately run organisation that began training volunteers last year. Its two-day course at the national training centre in Vught ends with a simulated disaster and is paid for by employers and private individuals.
The organisation has trained around 1,000 people so far this year, NOS said. Reaching 130,000 within 4 years would mean training more than 30,000 people a year, while the courses listed on its website take up to 64 people each.
Fears over cyberattacks and strikes on infrastructure through AI have spread rapidly this year, with intelligence service AIVD warning the Netherlands has not been at such a high level of risk since the second world war.
Catching up
The vote follows a government campaign urging households to prepare for the first 72 hours of a crisis. Every home received an emergency booklet over the winter, and in February half of households said they now stock emergency provisions accordingly.
Karen van Oudenhoven-van der Zee, director of the social and cultural planning bureau SCP, told current affairs programme Nieuwsuur that investment in the armed forces was out of proportion to the attention paid to people and society.
She said the 2027 budget sets aside €40 million for neighbourhoods and communities, falling to €20 million in the two years after that.
“When it comes to resilience, we have catching up to do,” she said.
