Willemina Roziena Catharina "Mirjam" Sterk (born 23 May 1973) is a Dutch former politician, civil servant, NH editor, and educator. As a member of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

she was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 23 May 2002 (on

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

from 8 April to 29 July 2008, replaced by Sabine Uitslag) until 19 September 2012. She focused on matters of integration policy and social affairs. Since 9 February 2022, she has been a member of the

provincial executive The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

Life

Sterk is a member of the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

(PKN) and studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. She is married and has three children. From May 2002 to September 2012 she was a member of the

. Following the controversial deportation of Roma migrants from France in 2010, Sterk advocated the deportation of Romani from the Netherlands. She said in an interview for ''

Algemeen Dagblad The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' (; ), also known by its initialism ''AD'' () is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and is headquartered i ...

'' that sending Romani who are unemployed and cause nuisance back to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

is a "good approach". In February 2022, she succeeded

Hanke Bruins Slot Hanke Gerdina Johannette Bruins Slot (born 20 October 1977) is a Dutch politician and military veteran who served as List of Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 2022 to 2023 and Minis ...

in the

Provincial Executive The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

, when she became interior minister. Sterk also headed a CDA committee to investigate the party's loss of seats in the 2023 general election. It concluded that the new party leader,

Henri Bontenbal Hendrik "Henri" Bontenbal (; born 10 November 1982) is a Dutch politician and energy consultant who has served in the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives since January 2022. He has been the Leader of the Christian Dem ...

, and parliamentary group should be given time, space, and trust to continue its new course.

Decorations

* In 2012 she was awarded Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

References

*
Parlement.com biography
1973 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch civil servants Dutch women civil servants Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch women educators 21st-century Dutch educators Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2006–2010 People from Zeist Utrecht University alumni 21st-century Dutch women politicians Christian Democratic Appeal MPs {{Netherlands-CDA-politician-stub