With the deportation of Howick and Lili to Armenia being scheduled today, the kids have run away from their Dutch foster-family in order to avoid the authorities. This is not going to be a neutral article if you were wondering, how could the Dutch government be so heartless.
Howick and Lili, the children who were to be deported to Armenia today, are missing. They walked away from their foster home last. Where they are now is not known. The Ministry of Justice confirms this to the NOS and the police are looking for the children.
The case of Howick and Lili caused a lot of turmoil since the ‘Raad van State’ had finally ruled last month that the two could not stay in the Netherlands. Howick (13) and Lili (12) came to the Netherlands with their mother in 2008. They were born in Russia, grew up in The Hague and have never been to Armenia. Nor do they speak the language. Since their arrival in the Netherlands, the family attempted to gain asylum without success. Their mother was already expelled to Armenia last year.
A last attempt to keep Howick and Lili here failed
Yesterday, lawyer Flip Schüller tried with a final attempt on behalf of the children to prevent expulsion of the teenagers. He asked for a provision for the children, because things are not at all well with the mother. The judge ruled otherwise. According to him there was no official study completed on their mom and long-term research had to be done to determine how the mother is ready. He also said that agreements had been made about shelter, training and financial support for the children.
Our morally bankrupt government
Earlier, the government had also stated that they would hold on to the expulsion of the children. State Secretary Harbers said that the case was judged legally eight times and that the outcome was always: Armenia is a safe country. Prime Minister Rutte briefly discussed the case yesterday after the Council of Ministers ended. “We must be strict,” he said.
Legally speaking, the government is completely right. Morally, they couldn’t be more wrong. The kids are completely integrated here and nobody, besides a few deplorable right-wing nutters, wants to see them deported. Even on twitter people are, from left to right, totally in agreement about this.
‘Soms moet je hard zijn’, zegt Rutte over de uitzetting van Howick en Lili. Hij bedoelt: niet voor multinationals. Niet voor graaiende bankiers. Niet voor fabulerende collega’s. Maar wel voor weerloze kinderen. Wat een land. Om je kapot te schamen.
— Willem Vissers (@vkwillemvissers) 7 september 2018
@markharbers Lili and Howick are already home. They belong here, in Holland. Sending them to an orphanage in a foreign country is inhuman and a violation of their human rights. They’re CHILDREN. Screw your politics. #LiliHowick
— ☆.｡.:* ky .｡.:*☆ (@TheNotDirtPlays) 8 september 2018
Maybe we by now could have expected this kind of morally bankrupt behaviour from the VVD, which was also in the news the past week for groping their employees or weird statements about the multicultural society. But Jesus, the CDA and CU are Christian parties officially? Well, guess not when it comes to actually being and acting like a good Christian right? And then there’s D66, what is left from the once rationale left-liberal party in this cabinet? And how in heavens name can you say anything about Trump if you’re also deporting children.
This ‘rules are rules’ behavior is especially embarrassing since this cabinet can’t wait to grant foreign shareholders 2 billion euro per year because a multinational or two might be leaving the country. Or cutting off expats after 5 years on the 30% ruling instead of the agreed upon 8 years. I guess in those cases ‘afspraak is afspraak’ (a deal is a deal) doesn’t matter anymore?
The latest news is that the police is asking the Dutch people to call them if the see Lili and Howick somewhere…
Of ik wil meehelpen bij de zoektocht naar Lili en Howick… pic.twitter.com/BLdBIbLHHX
— Alptekin (@AlptekinAkdogan) 8 september 2018
Here’s something from the Jeugdjournaal on Lili and Howick (in easy-going Dutch for kids)
Cover pic: Youtube/still/jeugdjournaal