Netherlands pushing ahead with plan to send asylum seekers to Uganda
The Dutch government will push through with its plan to send asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies to Uganda, the Ministries involved confirmed to NOS. The plan is quite controversial because it goes against European regulations against sending asylum seekers to a foreign country without their consent. Uganda also has one of the strictest anti-LGBTQIA+ laws in the world.
The plan by plan by Ministers Reinette Klever for Foreign Trade and Development Aid and Marjolein Faber of Asylum and Migration involves asylum seekers who have exhausted all legal remedies and cannot stay in the Netherlands. If they refuse or are unable to return to their country of origin, the PVV Ministers want to deport them to Uganda, where they'll stay until they leave for their country of origin.
The involved Ministries told NOS that this “innovative” plan is still in its early stages and will comply with the existing rules and legislation, including the European Convention of Human Rights.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which covers Klever’s department, told the broadcaster that it wants to prevent failed asylum seekers from disappearing from view. “Without an effective return policy, some of the rejected asylum seekers choose to stay illegally,” the Ministry wrote. It also wants to make it less attractive for asylum seekers from safe countries to come to the Netherlands.
Klever first announced the plan during a working visit to Uganda in October. Strikingly, the Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs then told the media that he was completely unaware of this plan and that Klever only discussed how to help Uganda with the asylum seekers it was already sheltering during her visit.
Klever now said that officials have discussed the topic extensively with Uganda, but did not elaborate further. “In recent months, the special envoy for migration has traveled to Uganda to discuss the elaboration of the idea. These discussions are confidential,” she said.
