wr2014_web_0

WORLD REPORT 2014The NetherlandsConcerns about immigration and asylum policy persist. In June, the UNCommittee against Torture (CAT) expressed concerns about immigration detentionbeyond the legal 18-month limit of unaccompanied children asylum seekersand of families with children pending age determination, and conditionsand treatment in detention. The committee recommended effective use of alternativesto detention. Detainees in Rotterdam and at Schiphol airport went onhunger strikes in May to protest their poor treatment.At time of writing, parliament is examining a bill to make irregular stay a crimepunishable by fines up to € 3,900 and prison up to six months for repeatoffenders. The Ministry of Security and Justice set a police target of 4,000arrests of irregular migrants during the year.As of June, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are processed under anaccelerated procedure; those over the age of 16 whose asylum requests havebeen rejected may be returned immediately unless adequate care in their homecountry is unavailable or the child is unable to provide for him or herself. TheDutch children’s rights ombudsman expressed concern that the procedure doesnot adequately take into account the best interests of the child.The government acknowledged in April that almost 300 people were misclassifiedas “removable” despite pending asylum appeals, including a Russian whocommitted suicide in January while in detention pending deportation. InSeptember, the government announced plans to reduce detention of asylumseekers.In September, the government granted permanent residence to 620 children(and 690 family members) who had been living in the Netherlands for at leastfive years and had applied for asylum, less than half of those who applied forthe program.The Netherlands decided it could return failed Somali asylum seekers in late2012, though court appeals halted deportations throughout 2013. InSeptember, shortly after the ECtHR ruled (in a case involving Sweden) thatimproved security in the Somali capital allowed for returns, the governmentbegan returns. In November, a Somali man was injured in a blast in Mogadishuthree days after his deportation from the Netherlands.448