Will 2023 be the year that Milena will receive a residence permit after almost four years?

Three and a half years ago, Milena moved into the attic room of a house somewhere in West Friesland with her family. They live there illegally and stay in the shadows as much as possible. The procedures for applying for asylum are now behind them, but the family is afraid to go back to Armenia. Milena’s father fears for his life and that of his family there.

You can watch the first meeting with Milena below:

Milena (15) and her parents are of Yazidis descent, a folk religion and minority group that has been a victim of persecution for centuries. Milena’s father’s family actively defends the rights of the Yazidi community, which has cost the lives of several family members. Milena’s family therefore fled to the Netherlands in 2009.

When Milena was one and a half years old, she came to the Netherlands with her parents. “I don’t remember anything about it. A lot happened at that time, my father got into trouble in Armenia, so we had to flee. We lived in various asylum seekers centers, we applied for procedures there, but they were often rejected.”

Actions

With the help of a lawyer, the family started a petition to ensure that Milena and her family could still stay here in the Netherlands. This petition was eventually signed more than 40,000 times. Thanks to the successful citizens’ initiative, Milena’s individual case was presented to the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration.

But it wasn’t just a petition. Milena also demonstrated in front of the town hall of Stede Broec, Dutch influencers took it up online for Milena and eventually she also joined the talk show program OP1.

Partly by the coverage of NH News/WEEFF the subject was discussed in The Hague. MP Jasper van Dijk contacted Milena’s lawyer and offered his help. The MP of the SP eventually submitted a motion that was adopted by the House of Representatives.

Milena’s lawyer immediately contacted the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) after the motion (Parliamentary paper 19 637, no. 2815) of Member of Parliament Jasper van Dijk (SP) on December 14, 2021 was adopted. In this adopted motion, the government was asked to review the policy for ‘the Closing Regulation’ with regard to children without an asylum background in the light of a working method that has been temporarily used in its implementation.

“By passing this motion, cases will be reassessed,” Milena’s lawyer explained at the time. In the end, about thirty children who were in a similar situation to Milena did get a residence permit, but Milena did not get the green light, much to the surprise of her lawyer.

Hope wanes

Despite all the setbacks, the lawyer and Milena remained hopeful. In January (2022), the lawyer submitted a provisional emergency provision to the court. This is because Milena’s asylum application was again rejected. On this emergency facility the lawyer has not yet received a response, but according to her that does not necessarily mean anything negative.

“As long as the court has not made a decision on the emergency provision, Milena will not be deported from the country. It is unusual for it to take this long, but this has no adverse effect on Milena’s situation for the time being.”

In August (2022) we paid our last visit to Milena, who is still hiding in the attic room. You can view the report below:

Since that first meeting with NH Nieuws/WEEFF, Milena has tried everything to get a residence permit. Yet it appears that 1.5 years later little has changed in Milena’s harrowing situation. She has now been living in the Netherlands for over 13 years and Milena is in the third year of HAVO.

Milena’s family has announced that they have hired a new lawyer and have decided not to talk to the media for the time being.