Netherlands fails inspections about care for child asylum seekers; Safety at risk

The Dutch facilities used for the reception of child asylum seekers asylum still fail to meet the minimum quality standards. This endangers their safety and development, four inspectorates concluded in a letter sent to State Secretary Eric van der Burg, who handles asylum issues on behalf of the Cabinet.

The inspectorates said Van der Burg must intervene quickly, because critical services, like access to education and continuity of care, are still not guaranteed.

It is the first time that the Justice and Security Inspectorate, the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate, the Education Inspectorate and the Dutch Labor Inspectorate have jointly expressed an opinion about the situation of child asylum seekers. In the past year, individual inspections already raised alarms, the supervisors emphasized.

But almost a year after the first urgent letter, "the situation for child asylum seekers has not improved, according to an investigation by the inspectorates at four emergency shelters, nine crisis emergency shelters and the COA reception center for unaccompanied minor aliens (AMV) in Ter Apel." One of the problems is that due to the poor movement through the asylum process, children often stay much longer in such a crisis emergency reception center than is actually intended. The inspectorates also observed that "there is still no concrete prospect of sustainable improvement of the situation in the short term."

There is too little individual attention for the young people housed at the reception locations, and not enough insight into their safety, the inspectorates said. Due to the long waiting times, the children also face interruptions to their own development. Moreover, a good night's sleep is difficult in a crisis shelter because of noise from other people.

The letter was not only addressed to Van der Burg, but also to Minister of Education Dennis Wiersma, Minister of Social Affairs Karien van Gennip and State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen for public health.

The four supervisors said they recognize that "the complexity of asylum reception makes it difficult to directly improve quality." Regardless, Van der Burg must quickly clarify what quality of asylum reception can be expected in "a bridging period," in which the asylum system must be put in order and the distribution of asylum seekers becomes better regulated.

However, it is still unclear how long that period will last. The inspectorates also believe that child asylum seekers should no longer be treated differently than children who have fled from Ukraine.

Next week, the Cabinet will issue a substantive response to the inspectorates' recommendations.