Netherlands deports 480 migrants over criminal convictions

By Janene Pieters on July 6, 2017 - 09:28
Klaas_Dijkhoff_2015_(2)
Klaas Dijkhoff (Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl/Wikimedia Commons). (Klaas Dijkhoff (Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl/Wikimedia Commons))

Over the first five moths of this year the Ministry of Security and Justice deported 480 migrants who were convicted of a crime. Among them were 60 Albanians, 60 Surinamese, 50 Algerians and 50 Moroccans, a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed to NU.nl after reports in AD.

The Ministry's figures show that the proportion of criminal migrants that were forced to leave the Netherlands increased every year since 2011. In that year 72 percent of this group were deported, now it is 80 percent.

On Friday Minister Stef Blok of Security and Justice assured parliament that there is no policy to not prosecute asylum seekers who commit crimes. Last week the Telegraaf reported that many crime committing asylum seekers are left un-prosecuted because deporting an asylum seeker is more complicated when there is an ongoing criminal case against him.

According to Blok, this is definitely not the case. Prosecution has no consequences for deportation. If someone ends up in prison during the asylum procedure, a deportation procedure is started, he said. 

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