Municipalities discriminating by only taking in Ukrainian refugees: Human rights board

Municipalities that only want to provide shelter for Ukrainian refugees and not asylum seekers from other countries are guilty of discrimination, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights said on Friday. The same goes for the fact that thousands of shelter places intended for Ukrainians remain unused while other asylum seekers have to sleep outside, NOS reports.

State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) recently said that he would arrange the spread of Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands differently so that they go mainly to municipalities that only want to provide shelter for Ukrainians. This would free up space for other asylum seekers in municipalities that do not differentiate based on asylum seekers’ nationality.

That is discrimination, the human rights institute said. The constitution prohibits discrimination based on origin unless there is a legal exception. And there is no such legal exception for sheltering Ukrainian refugees vs. other asylum seekers.

In April, the Netherlands implemented the Regulation on the reception of displaced persons in Ukraine, which is related to the European Temporary Protection Directive. The regulation means that Ukrainians don’t have to go through the asylum procedure. They automatically receive special temporary residency status. The regulation also allows the government to force municipalities to take in Ukrainians.

But according to the Institute, this regulation is not a legitimate legal exception to distinguish between Ukrainians and other asylum seekers when providing shelter. The fact that the government can force municipalities to take in Ukrainians does not mean that other asylum seekers have less right to decent reception. A distinction could be made if Ukrainians were in a more disadvantageous position than other asylum seekers, but that is not the case.

If the Cabinet offers municipalities room to take in only Ukrainians, the Cabinet legitimizes discrimination, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights said.

The Cabinet has been struggling to find reception locations for asylum seekers for months. Various municipalities have opened emergency shelters, but the overcrowding problems in Ter Apel persist. The Cabinet plans to shelter asylum seekers on cruise ships. Not at sea, as originally planned, but moored in quays.

According to the Institute, this scrambling for emergency shelters would not have been necessary if there had been enough structural accommodation. The Institute urged the Cabinet to move quickly with a new law that would allow the government to compel municipalities to open shelters.