Labour, Green parties demand more rights for asylum kids

The PvdA and GroenLinks are presenting a legislative proposal to the Council of State on Monday which would give child asylum seekers quicker access to residency permits, PvdA parliamentarian Attje Kuiken and GroenLinks MP Linda Voortman said in the Volkskrant. According to the two parties, the current legislation often looks at the interests of the parents and less to the interests of the child. "Children can have independent reasons for asylum, such as their health, mental development or the risk of circumcision", Kuiken said. Voortman adds: "Last year two one-year-old girls were returned with their mothers to Guinea - a country where 97 percent of women are circumcised - because their mother could protect the children." The parties hope to get the proposal through the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, before the elections in March next year. According to NU.nl, they can probably count on support from the SP, D66, ChristenUnie, PvdD and Denk. Though not from the VVD, who believes that the rights of children in the current law are already adequate.