Desperate Milena still hiding in small attic: “Want an answer”

The unreal feeling immediately creeps over me as we walk up those familiar old stairs together again towards the attic. The creaking of the wooden steps breaks our silence and in silence we both walk to the place where we also agreed a year ago.

Milena sits down on the edge of the bed, just like then, this time, crosses her legs and looks at me questioningly. “Actually, not much has changed for you one year later, has it?” I ask her.

Milena sighs and nods: “No, not in the positive sense. Of course I am happy with the attention we have received, but that attention has not been able to continue.”

Attempts without breakthrough

For the past year, Milena has been anything but quiet. For example, she and her lawyer had several conversations with the INDshe started a petition which has been signed more than 43,000 times, demonstrated she in front of the town hall, she came for an interview at the talk show OP1, she wrote a letter to the Secretary of State and a motion was passed on December 14 thanks to Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk (SP). In that motion, the government is requested to review the policy for the ‘Closing Regulation’.

By adopting this motion Cases, such as Milena’s, are reassessed and about thirty children are still granted a residence permit in the Netherlands. But because Milena has been back to Armenia in the past, she is not eligible.

Family

Milena and her family have been hiding with a family in West Friesland for three years now. When you stand in the living room or look into the kitchen, it almost seems like you are visiting an average family. Yet I see Milena’s father sitting quietly at a picnic table in the garden. He smokes a cigarette and stares straight ahead.

“The endless waiting for an answer does something to you,” says Milena’s mother. “Our six-year-old son is increasingly asking why he is not allowed to go outside and that naturally affects you as a parent.”

Milena’s older brother is now 12 years old and has his first kickboxing competition scheduled for September. “He has been training for a while and has talent,” the father says proudly. “The little things like that keep you going, but I’m not going to deny it, I don’t know how long I can keep this up. I want to be able to give my children something, but that’s just not possible right now.”

On the case of Milena

The 14-year-old Milena has been in hiding with her family in West Friesland for more than three years. Her family comes from Armenia and has lived in the Netherlands for twelve years, but does not receive a residence permit. They are afraid to go back, because the father of the family there fears for his life. They were exhausted in 2018. According to lawyer Chupieva, the asylum application did not meet the right conditions at the time.

The family returns to Armenia in the same year, but within a month they flee to Russia because it is too unsafe. The situation in Russia is also dire, after which the family will return to the Netherlands in 2019. Since then they have been hiding in an attic in West Friesland.

The hope was that if her asylum application was approved, the whole family would be allowed to stay. But due to several rejections from the IND, the focus has completely shifted to the petition. This is the last option to continue living in the Netherlands.

Watch the report that NH Nieuws made with Milena last August: