IND restarts review of asylum applications from conflict-affected regions in Lebanon

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) is going to assess asylum requests from people who have fled from three troubled regions in Lebanon, caretaker asylum minister David Van Weel reported. The Cabinet decided in November to halt assessments of these asylum requests temporarily because the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah had escalated in these regions.

Dozens of asylum seekers from Lebanon come to the Netherlands every year. It is not known how many of these people come from the regions in the South, Nabatiye, and Baalbek-Hermel, which are the areas that are up for assessment.

According to Van Weel, there is still violence in these regions between Israel and the militant movement. However, the caretaker minister added that there is a relatively low number of random violent incidents, and it is mainly military targets that are being attacked.

Because of this, the people from these areas do not automatically apply for asylum in the Netherlands. The IND will judge each case individually on whether the person in question is in danger and, therefore, eligible for protection.

The waiting time for asylum seekers from Lebanon before their request has been treated by the IND is currently 81 weeks. Fewer than 50 Syrian refugees arrived in the Netherlands in the early months of this year.