Gov't pauses refugee family reunification restrictions ahead of Council of State ruling
The Dutch government decided to temporarily stop restricting family reunification for refugees, State Secretary Eric van der Burg said in a letter to parliament. The Council of Stae is handling the matter on Thursday.
Several refugees filed lawsuits against the State when it decided to restrict family reunification in an attempt to reduce the inflow of asylum seekers. The court in Haarlem previously ruled that the measure was illegal in a case filed by a Syrian mother hoping to be reunified with her minor children. The State appealed, bringing the matter to the Council of State.
While the Council of State is considering the case, the government will not apply restrictions on any approved requests for family reunification to “prevent unnecessary lawsuits,” Van der Burg (Asylum) said in his letter to parliament. This only applies to new decisions, he stressed.
The restriction states that refugees - asylum seekers whose application was granted and received residency permits for the Netherlands - can only apply to bring their family members to the Netherlands once they have found a home. But due to the housing shortage, that often takes a very long time. If the refugee still doesn’t have a home after 15 months, they can apply for their family members to join them.
The restrictions were criticized by left-wing opposition parties, human rights organizations, and the Children’s Ombudsman, who said that restricting family reunification violates’ children’s rights. Critics pointed out that the 15-month waiting period, on top of the sometimes years-long asylum procedure, could result in families being separated for years.
Refugee council VluchtelingenWerk Nederland wants the Cabinet to scrap the restrictions to family reunification altogether. The organization called it painful that the temporary lifting of the restrictions only applies to new cases. “People who hear from tomorrow that their family can come over will not have to wait. A group of 1,500 people has recently heard that their families are not allowed to come immediately, and the restriction will continue to apply to them,” a spokesperson said to AD.
The organization expects new lawsuits over this and expects the courts to rule in the refugees’ favor. “The withdrawal must apply retroactively because sooner or later, that will happen anyway. It is time for the Cabinet to take the entire measure off the table so that these people can embrace their loved ones, whom they have not seen for years.”
