What will happen to the approximately 2,200 ‘third-country nationals’ in the Netherlands from Monday: people from Ukraine who had a temporary Ukrainian residence permit at the time of the Russian invasion, for example because they studied or worked in that country?
On Tuesday evening it was announced that they have one month to leave the Netherlands from next week. “The people in this group can, in principle, safely return to their country of origin,” said outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum, VVD) wednesday morning on X, formerly Twitter.
But the same Wednesday the court of The Hague ruled in three cases that the cabinet has ‘no authority’ to withdraw the temporary protection status of third-country nationals, because it concerns a European regulation. Only the European Council of Ministers can decide to do so, the court concludes.
In another court case, the court in Rotterdam ruled that the cabinet may exclude third-country nationals from temporary protection. The Council for Refugees calls on the cabinet to allow third-country nationals to remain in municipal shelters pending the appeal to the Council of State. The outgoing State Secretary does not respond to that call. The closure of the reception will continue, the ministry said in response to the statements.
Legal Proceedings
Municipalities and refugee organizations fear that some of the 2,200 third-country nationals ‘compulsory to leave’ will wander around, something that rejected foreign nationals often do. “That is not only unpleasant for those people, but also quite complicated for cities,” said Amsterdam alderman Rutger Groot Wassink (GroenLinks) on Tuesday at News hour. He takes into account that people will refuse to leave the municipal shelter, which can lead to lengthy legal procedures.
Last year, 95,000 Ukrainian displaced persons reported to Dutch municipalities. Among them were thousands of people from countries such as Nigeria, Morocco and India. Both groups did not have to register as asylum seekers at the application center in Ter Apel, thanks to a temporary protection scheme. On the basis of this temporary status, they were allowed to work indefinitely and could attend Dutch schools. Municipalities became responsible for the reception of Ukrainians and third-country nationals.
Outgoing State Secretary Van der Burg decided to ease the pressure on municipal shelters for Ukrainians last July immediately withdraw the protection status of third-country nationals. Anyone who wanted to stay in the Netherlands had to register as an asylum seeker in Ter Apel. An exception was made for third-country nationals who were registered in the Municipal Personal Records Database before 19 July, a group of approximately 4,900 persons at the time. They were allowed to stay in the temporary shelter until March 4, 2023.
The Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) warned in an urgent letter of an exacerbation of the asylum reception crisis if all these people were to report to Ter Apel, and complained about the lack of a clear and timely solution for the group. At the beginning of this year, it was decided to extend the temporary shelter until September 4. The group has now shrunk to 2,200 people, due to departure or because they have been granted asylum.
Read also: Judge: cabinet may withdraw the right of residence of a ‘third-country national’
Leave or apply for asylum?
Municipalities received a month ago an information pack of the Ministry of Justice and Security on how to deal with third-country nationals from Ukraine from September. It can be concluded from this that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) has sent letters to third-country nationals asking what their plans are: leave the Netherlands or apply for asylum?
On Tuesday it was announced that about 700 of them have applied for asylum. A spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) said when asked know that these people will be transferred to emergency shelters between July and September. In the ideal scenario, there will be a separate reception location for third-country nationals who are in the asylum procedure, to relieve the pressure on the overloaded application centre. Whether that will succeed is still very much the question, let the COA know. Due to the great shortage of permanent asylum reception places, the implementing organization has for some time been dependent on temporary emergency reception locations, such as event halls and campsites.
The organization takes into account that third-country nationals who have not yet applied for asylum will do so from Monday, for example to prevent deportation. At the moment it is difficult to estimate how many third-country nationals will actually be included in the asylum procedure.
For the time being, the 2,200 third-country nationals from Ukraine are expected to return to their country of origin within a month from Monday, or to leave for another country. The government assumes that people leave voluntarily. Anyone who has not done so after a month may be forced to do so.