The Aliens Chamber of the Roermond court on Tuesday certain that three third-country nationals have the same right to temporary protection as other refugees from Ukraine. As long as Ukrainian refugees are allowed to stay, under the Temporary Protection Directive, which has been extended at least until March 4, 2025, third-country nationals are also allowed to do so.
The ruling has consequences for all third-country nationals who fled from Ukraine to the Netherlands before July 19, 2022; the Council of State decided in January that they would only fall under temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until March 4, and that they would have to leave the Netherlands before April 2. The ministry therefore finds the decision of the Aliens Chamber “surprising” and will appeal, a spokesperson confirms.
Third-country nationals are people who had a temporary residence permit in Ukraine and fled from Ukraine to the Netherlands after the Russian invasion in February 2022. They do not have Ukrainian nationality and do not have an EU passport. Third-country nationals who came to the Netherlands after July 19, 2022 were no longer covered by the temporary protection offered to Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands, outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (VVD) decided that same summer. But a discussion arose about the group of third-country nationals who were already in the Netherlands at the time.
For example, State Secretary Van der Burg initially wanted to remove their temporary protection from the group of third-country nationals who had fled to the Netherlands before July 19, 2022, after reception places for Ukrainian refugees began to fill up. The Council of State subsequently ruled that he was not authorized to do so and stated that they could stay until March 4, 2024, when their temporary protection expired. In January, approximately 2,900 third-country nationals were still staying in the Netherlands. The ministry reports that at least 850 of them have left since then, and another 140 have applied for a severance package.
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