Marjolein Faber

Marjolein Hillegonda Monica Faber-van de Klashorst (born 16 June 1960) is a Dutch politician for the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV), who has served as Minister of Asylum and Migration in the Schoof cabinet since July 2024. Previously, she was a member of the Provincial Council of Gelderland (2011–2023), of the Senate (2014–2023), and of the House of Representatives (2023–2024).

Early life and career
Faber was raised in Amersfoort as the daughter of a butcher, and she attended secondary school at MAVO and HAVO levels. She started working as a laboratory technician at the Amersfoort Lichtenberg hospital in 1978, and she was simultaneously educated in nuclear medicine in Utrecht until 1984. She switched her career to the IT sector in 1986, and she worked as a software engineer and IT specialist at various companies until she became politically active after seeing a television advertisement for the Party for Freedom.

2011–2023: Senate and Provincial Council
Faber became a member of the Provincial Council of Gelderland for the Party for Freedom on 10 March 2011. She joined the Senate later that year, and she served as the PVV's parliamentary leader in the body starting on 10 June 2014, replacing Marcel de Graaff. Describing herself to newspaper De Gelderlander, Faber said she has "hardline stances without nuance, such as prohibiting the Quran, closing all mosques, and getting rid of Islam". She also referred to her colleagues in the provincial council as fake representatives for allegedly not listening to the will of the people. She was deprived of the floor in the Senate after making the same accusation. She elaborated that she believed fellow senators were failing to protect the Netherlands, claiming the Dutch population was being replaced by an Islamic population.

In 2015, reports came out that Faber had paid her son's company for maintaining the PVV Gelderland website with funds of the party's parliamentary group. It was later discovered that Faber's son had also created the website for the PVV parliamentary group in the Senate. She had earlier uncovered irregularities in the travel expenses of Co Verdaas, which led to his resignation from the second Rutte cabinet. In 2017, Faber – together with PVV members Wilders and Markuszower – protested against the appointment of PvdA member Ahmed Marcouch as mayor of Arnhem, with a large banner displaying the text "No Arnhemmistan! We are losing our country!".

During the campaign for 2019 provincial elections, she argued for tax relief, and expressed her opposition to multiculturalism. In response to a stabbing incident in Groningen that same year, she claimed the perpetrator had a North-African skin colour. Despite the three victims stating the perpetrator was white, Faber stuck to her original claim. She complained about Dutch funding for the United Nations in a 2020 debate, and she said that organization was engaged in antisemitism, terrorism, and omvolking. Prime Minister Mark Rutte subsequently noted the latter term originated in Nazi ideology. She was once again deprived of the floor in the Senate when she called the fourth Rutte cabinet a fifth column because of its immigration policy.

2017–2024: NATO Parliamentary Assembly
In 2017, Faber became a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, a body of almost 300 parliamentarians from the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), supplemented by delegates from the associated member states. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is not a parliament, but a consultation of parliaments.

2023–2024: House of Representatives
Faber was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2023, and she became the PVV's spokesperson for criminal law and human trafficking. This ended her memberships of the Senate and the States of Gelderland. She advocated solving a shortage of prison cells by implementing austerity measures in the prison regime, and she opined that the Public Prosecution Service was demanding too lenient sentences. In the House of Representatives, Faber is a member of five standing committees: Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, Justice and Security, Kingdom Relations, and Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Since 2024: Minister of Asylum and Migration
Faber was nominated in June 2024 to serve as Minister of Asylum and Migration in the new Schoof cabinet, leading a new ministry. Her selection was affirmed following crisis talks between the coalition parties after VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz had raised Faber's past controversial statements and tone. Faber apologized in confirmation hearings for her earlier usage of the word omvolking, while repeating her worries about demographic trends in the Netherlands. The cabinet was sworn in on 2 July 2024.

Personal life
Faber is married and has two children.