Dalit
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- Mar 16, 2012
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The Dutch cabinet has decided not to allow a group of possibly two hundred Afghans who worked for the Netherlands during the military presence in Afghanistan, together with their families, to come to the Netherlands. This was written by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Asylum and Migration to the House of Representatives.
The previous cabinet had decided to make "an extra effort" to accommodate this "defined group" of former Afghan guards in the Netherlands. The cabinet is reversing that decision, according to the letter to parliament. The guards were not directly employed by the Dutch government, but were hired via an external security company.
When the previous cabinet took the decision, at the request of a majority in the House of Representatives, it concerned 145 security personnel. Including their family members, this amounted to 965 people.
According to the cabinet, the administration of the Ministry of Defence has shown that it may involve many more people: almost a thousand security personnel, who together with their families represent more than 4,500 people. The whereabouts of a large number of the former guards are unknown. They may already be staying in safe countries, the ministers write.
The costs of transferring the families play a role in the assessment, as is apparent from the enclosed documents. Even for the smallest possible group of two hundred guards and their families, these come to more than 30 million euros. The overload at the Immigration and Naturalization Service also plays a role, and according to the cabinet it is difficult to determine what the danger is that the former guards are currently still running under the current Taliban regime.
Heartbreaking cases
"The current cabinet therefore makes a different assessment. However, the cabinet will continue to keep an eye on distressing cases within the existing policy, just as the previous cabinet did," the ministers say. At the moment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has 31 requests from embassy guards and 137 from security guards to qualify for asylum in the Netherlands.
The decision has led to angry reactions in the House of Representatives. Initiator Piri, a member of parliament for GroenLinks-PvdA, says on X: "It is heartless and infuriating that the cabinet refuses to allow the last evacuees to come over." She considers it a "debt of honour" because the guards risked their own lives to help Dutch soldiers and diplomats.
CDA MP Boswijk also finds it "extremely painful" that the current cabinet is not fulfilling "previously made promises". D66 MP Paternotte calls the decision "shameless". The parties want a debate on the decision next week.
The previous cabinet had decided to make "an extra effort" to accommodate this "defined group" of former Afghan guards in the Netherlands. The cabinet is reversing that decision, according to the letter to parliament. The guards were not directly employed by the Dutch government, but were hired via an external security company.
When the previous cabinet took the decision, at the request of a majority in the House of Representatives, it concerned 145 security personnel. Including their family members, this amounted to 965 people.
According to the cabinet, the administration of the Ministry of Defence has shown that it may involve many more people: almost a thousand security personnel, who together with their families represent more than 4,500 people. The whereabouts of a large number of the former guards are unknown. They may already be staying in safe countries, the ministers write.
The costs of transferring the families play a role in the assessment, as is apparent from the enclosed documents. Even for the smallest possible group of two hundred guards and their families, these come to more than 30 million euros. The overload at the Immigration and Naturalization Service also plays a role, and according to the cabinet it is difficult to determine what the danger is that the former guards are currently still running under the current Taliban regime.
Heartbreaking cases
"The current cabinet therefore makes a different assessment. However, the cabinet will continue to keep an eye on distressing cases within the existing policy, just as the previous cabinet did," the ministers say. At the moment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has 31 requests from embassy guards and 137 from security guards to qualify for asylum in the Netherlands.
The decision has led to angry reactions in the House of Representatives. Initiator Piri, a member of parliament for GroenLinks-PvdA, says on X: "It is heartless and infuriating that the cabinet refuses to allow the last evacuees to come over." She considers it a "debt of honour" because the guards risked their own lives to help Dutch soldiers and diplomats.
CDA MP Boswijk also finds it "extremely painful" that the current cabinet is not fulfilling "previously made promises". D66 MP Paternotte calls the decision "shameless". The parties want a debate on the decision next week.
Source:
https://nos.nl/l/2538770
https://nos.nl/l/2538770
