Sharp increase in unaccompanied children applying for asylum in the Netherlands
The number of unaccompanied children applying for asylum in the Netherlands has increased sharply in recent years - from 2,191 in 2021 to around 6,000 last year. Sources in the Immigration and Nationalization Service (IND) told the Telegraaf that people are sending their kids ahead because they believe it is easier to get asylum through family reunification than applying as a family as a whole.
According to the newspaper, the Ministry of Justice and Security has been concerned for some time about a trend to send children, often teenage boys, ahead to first apply for asylum in the Netherlands to make it easier for their family to obtain an asylum permit. The children apply for family reunification soon after arriving in the Netherlands, and direct family members in the country of origin can join them if their asylum application is approved. The adult asylum seekers can then later also apply to bring family members to the Netherlands, according to the Telegraaf.
“The ever-increasing influx of unaccompanied minors is extremely worrying and unsustainable,” VVD parliamentarian Ruben Brekelmans told the Telegraaf. “Asylum policy should not be more flexible for young people than for adults. Otherwise, young people will be pushed ahead. That applies, for example, to border controls, detention, the Dublin agreement, and returns. Finally, Dutch policy on unaccompanied minors and family reunification must be tightened.”
The IND told the Telegraaf that the same family reunification rules apply to children and adults. But there are European rules that could make it more attractive to send a child ahead to first apply for asylum. The European asylum agreement will soon allow for adult asylum seekers to be detained at the European external borders to asses the chances of their applications, but that is not permitted for children.
The Rutte IV Cabinet collapsed while trying to tighten the family reunification rules at a national level. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security told the Telegraaf that it is up to the new Cabinet to devise a different policy.
