Underage asylum seekers can more quickly lose their asylum permit and be deported after a crime. This concerns crimes against public order, such as hate speech, open violence or participation in a terrorist organization. Minister Marjolein Faber of Asylum and Migration wants to arrange this within two weeks. The reason is, among other things, the gang rape in Helmond, for which four teenagers were convicted this week.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) can currently only revoke the asylum status of a minor if certain conditions are met. For example, the minor must have been convicted under adult law and given a minimum prison sentence of six months.
Minister Faber wants to remove these conditions from immigration law. She wants the IND to take into account every conviction for a crime against public order when withdrawing or refusing a permit.
Gang rape in Helmond
The minister already announced in December that she wanted to implement this change. This Friday she made a connection with the gang rape in Helmond.
READ ALSO: Teenagers convicted of gang rape of homeless woman
On December 16, 2023, a homeless woman in Helmond was raped by a group of teenagers. This involved minor asylum seekers. Four of the suspects were sentenced to fifteen months in juvenile detention on Monday, three months of which were conditional. The fifth suspect was found guilty of assaulting the woman.
According to Faber, there is no place in the Netherlands for such people, Faber said before the start of the cabinet meeting. “Especially after the incident in Helmond, I am completely fed up with the fact that we cannot withdraw the asylum permit in such cases,” she said in a statement.
READ ALSO: Cabinet promises solution to asylum seeker nuisance at Maarheeze station