Afghan employees of Dutch embassy have to pay for stay in asylum center

Afghan former employees of the Dutch embassy in Kabul who were evacuated to the Netherlands in August last year now have to pay for their accommodation in asylum centers. They received severance pay from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which they now must use to pay part of their board and lodging, NU.nl reports.

The 37 Afghan embassy employees and their families arrived in the Netherlands at the end of August and were taken to the asylum shelter in Zoutkamp. Two weeks later, a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed up with letters of dismissal. "We were shocked and also sad," one former embassy worker said to the newspaper. "Some of us worked for the embassy for 20 years."

As is customary in the Netherlands, the now-former embassy employees were entitled to severance pay or a transition payment. They now have to pay part of that money to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). According to the COA's rules, single asylum seekers with more than 6,505 euros or families with more than 13,010 euros have to make a contribution to their board and lodging. The COA decides how much on a case-by-case basis.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told NU.nl that it informed the former employees in the spring of 2021 about the scenario that they may be dismissed if the embassy closes or is scaled down. The Ministry also told them that they would have to contribute to their board and lodging after receiving their severance, the spokesperson said.

PvdA parliamentarian Kati Piri can't believe the state of affairs. "Instead of acting on the idea that we a debt of honor to these people, the rules are again heartlessly applied. And every moral sense is missing. The Minister must adjust this policy immediately."

Yannick Du Pont of the SPARK foundation, which is helping the 37 embassy employees find new work, is also critical. “It is all according to the rules, but it is very distressing. These people have worked for the Dutch government and were brought here by us. A number of them planned to use this money to start their own company. That’s not possible now,” Du Pont said to the newspaper.

The fact that these embassy workers have to pay to stay in asylum centers they were brought to by the Dutch government is not the only thing Du Pont is critical of. After initially being left behind in Afghanistan when the embassy was evacuated, these former government employees spent months in the Netherlands being dragged from one place to another, he said. From Zoutkamp to Harskamp, then back to Zoutkamp before being separated and scattered across the country. Some have moved six times. “People have to start over again with their language course or driving lessons. We find jobs, but then families are transferred, and the job prospects are gone again.”