“Stop deporting immediately”
ChristenUnie is pressing the government to directly cease the expulsion of asylum children and their parents. CU MP Voordewind says it would be “bizarre” and “very sour” for children to be deported while negotiating new rules on the matter.
The organization calls it incomprehensible that the deportation of children is continued while a majority in the Lower House is in favor of the extension of the children’s pardon. ChristenUnie makes light of an Armenian family with three children in a detention center in Zeist. The children are 8, 5 and 3 years old. All three were born in the Netherlands. One of the children was traumatized by a traffic accident. They are facing deportation next Monday.
Expanding eligibility for residence
Among other things, the four coalition parties want the state secretary to take another look at up to 700 ongoing cases. These cases have so far been rejected for the children’s pardon.
The parties meet today to discuss an amendment to their current rules. Now that CDA and D66 have submitted a plan on Saturday to state secretary Harbers to loosen up the rules. As a result of the (possible) expansion of the rules, more asylum children and their parents will be eligible for a residence permit. (the Dutch word for this is ‘gezinshereniging’ – family reunification)
Chamber majority
Of the four government parties, three parties are now in favor of a widening (CDA, D66, CU). The idea is to stop deporting children who are ‘rooted’ in the Netherlands.
After last year’s discussion on clamping down on squatters, asylum in the Netherlands continues to be a big talking point among all four parties. Government party VVD is against but has stated they will respect the result. At the end of last year, the VVD called for a sharper asylum policy. The CDA did a 180 spin on it last Saturday and had this to say,
“It is difficult to explain that families with vulnerable children end up in closed facilities more quickly than, for example, nuisance North Africans who make asylum seekers centers and neighborhoods unsafe. That is why we propose to treat families with children with priority in order to avoid lengthy procedures” – Van Toorenburg
The ChristenUnie (5 seats) and the PvdA (9) also support the proposal of CDA (19) and D66 (19). Together with GroenLinks (14), SP (14) and the Party for the Animals (5), a majority of 85 seats is now being formed for an extension of the children’s pardon.
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