Cabinet to appeal against refugee family reunification court decisions

The Cabinet is appealing to the Council of State against judgments by courts that recently put an end to the restriction placed on the family members of refugee status holders making it more difficult to travel to the Netherlands. The Cabinet decided on this measure at the end of August. With the appeal, the Cabinet wants a final decision on whether or not the scheme is legally tenable.

This month, several courts ruled in five cases to allow people recognized refugees to bring their family members to the Netherlands. The refugees in those cases include a Syrian woman, a Turkish man and an Iraqi woman. Each and every one of the court rulings stated that the government measure to limit the family reunification of refugees is illegal. According to the judges, the regulation is in violation of both national and international treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights

After the first ruling at the beginning of December, State Secretary Eric Van der Burg, who is responsible for the policy, maintained the restriction on travel in connection with family members of recognized refugees. He said the preliminary relief judge had not ruled on the family reunification order as a whole, but on a specific case.

After a verdict handed down Thursday, Van der Burg said that he would not rule out an appeal to the Council of State. After studying the five judgments published this month, the Cabinet decided on Friday to appeal to the Council of State in order to obtain clarity from the highest administrative court about the restriction on travel in connection with family reunification.

The restriction on family reunification applies to family members of people who are already in the Netherlands. The Cabinet decided at the end of August that a visa will be issued up to fifteen months after the application for family reunification has been submitted.

However, if the status holder manages to secure a home for his or her relatives traveling in the Netherlands, the visa may be issued earlier. The measure applies up to and including 2023 and, according to the Cabinet, is necessary to relieve the pressure on the overburdened asylum reception system.