A growing number of rejected asylum seekers in the Netherlands are disappearing from asylum centers to avoid deportation and reapply once a legal deadline passes, according to a report by EenVandaag, on Monday, April 7th. The practice exploits a gap in the Dublin Regulation, an EU law that designates the first European country of entry as responsible for processing asylum claims.
Under the Dublin rules, if an applicant staying in the Netherlands is not returned to the responsible country within 18 months, the Netherlands must handle the claim. “You often see in the data the status ‘left to unknown destination,’” said Mark Klaassen, assistant professor of migration law. “These are people who left asylum centers and disappeared. Once the 18 months pass … the Netherlands must process the application.”
Data from the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) shows that only one in six Dublin claims led to actual transfers in the past five years. While Germany responds to about half the requests made for transfer, Italy, on the other hand, failed to respond to over 4,000 Dutch requests and have not taken a transfer once.
Asylum lawyer Sonya Taheri noted that applicants are often aware of the rule. On top of that, support often comes from religious groups or private citizens. Pro-immigration NGOs and religious centers are known to be organising accommodation for people who are overstaying illegally and sheltering them until they can re-apply after the 18 month period ends.
In Amsterdam, the city offers shelter to avoid homelessness. “We want to avoid having vulnerable people sleep outside,” said Alderman Rutger Groot Wassink. He warned that proposed EU reforms extending the deadline to three years will worsen the situation. “People will have to live in illegality even longer.”
