Undocumented children excluded from Amsterdam's free public transport

Kids in Amsterdam can again use public transport for free this year. But the measure doesn’t apply to all children. Undocumented children can’t register for it, Gianni da Costa, who helps undocumented people in the city, told NH Nieuws.

Children in Amsterdam can use public transport for free between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. for the rest of the year. Registration opened this weekend. You sign up on the city’s website. But you need a citizen service number (BSN), something that undocumented children don’t have.

Children in the Netherlands always have the right to education and healthcare, whether they are documented or not. Da Costa is trying to convince the municipality that undocumented kids should also have access to the free public transport other children in the city have. After all, it increases their access to education and care.

Da Costa has received questions from dozens of parents since applications opened. “We know that these families often live below the poverty line. It is now the summer holidays, so it is extra important that these children can also go out. Otherwise, they will have nothing to talk about after the summer.”

Leidy Conçalves has lived undocumented in the Netherlands for 20 years and has three children between the ages of 9 and 11. “Yuri, Yara, and Many have lived here all their lives. They were born here and can’t help it that they don’t have papers.”

She worries that her children will be stuck at home all summer. “My children want to go to the park with friends, we wanted to go to the campsite in Amsterdam Noord. Now that is no longer possible,” Leidy told the broadcaster. Adults still have to pay for transport, but one ticket is much more affordable than four.

“I understand that boundaries have to be drawn somewhere, but this involves children,” Da Costa told NH Nieuws. “If something applies to all children, it should really apply to all children.”

The municipality of Amsterdam told AT5 that it would investigate whether it could extend the free travel to also include undocumented children.

Last year, Amsterdam allowed free travel for children for the first time during the summer. By limiting it to outside peak hours this year, the city could extend the campaign to last for the rest of the year.

Almost 17,000 children used the scheme last summer, accounting for around 19 percent of all public transport use in Amsterdam that season.