The decision of the municipality of Utrecht to temporarily give status holders priority over a social rental home this summer was not discriminatory, according to the Board for Human Rights. The organization published Monday a review of the priority scheme, at the request of the municipality itself. The request was prompted by reports from Utrecht residents who considered the scheme unfair and discriminatory.
From the beginning of August, Utrecht decided to give status holders priority over social housing in the city for a period of six weeks. This would make up for a backlog – according to the law, the municipality still had to find accommodation for almost five hundred status holders. By increasing the throughput, the pressure on the Ter Apel application center also had to decrease. The scheme was terminated early at the end of August because of such a catch-up.
The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights concludes that the municipality did indeed make an indirect distinction based on race; one group, ‘predominantly of non-Dutch descent’, was given priority over the other group ‘most probably with mainly Dutch descent’. Such a distinction is only allowed if there is a legitimate purpose, the Board writes, and in this case there was. The municipality performed its statutory task by offering residence permit holders accommodation and thus contributed to alleviating the asylum crisis.