The cabinet may not continue to block family reunification of status holders pending an appeal in January. That is the Council of State announced Thursday. The suspension requests from the State Secretary have been rejected because the ‘interest of the family members who travel in connection with family reunification’ outweighs the ‘interest of the State Secretary not to implement the court rulings’.
It is the umpteenth setback for the government’s legally controversial family reunification policy. State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD) says to the ANP news agency: “We have taken note of the ruling and the IND will follow up on this.”
In order to relieve overcrowded asylum seekers’ centres, Van der Burg decided in August that asylum seekers without accommodation are not allowed to bring their families to the Netherlands until 2023. Earlier this month, several judges ruled that this so-called restriction on travel in connection with family reunification is in violation of Dutch aliens law, European legislation and international right. According to a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, around a thousand family members are currently waiting to travel to the Netherlands due to the restriction on family reunification.
Legally groundless
Van der Burg did not accept that decision and appealed. That appeal will also be submitted to the Council of State in January. Until then, Van der Burg wanted to maintain the travel restriction by suspending the judges’ ruling. The Council of State has now decided that the cabinet may not ignore the judges’ ruling until further notice. Family reunification may take place, at least until the verdict in the appeal case.
Refugee Council of the Netherlands says in a response that Secretary of State Van der Burg wants to “continue litigation until it is no longer possible”. According to the aid organization, “the deliberate staging of illegitimate policies that deeply affect so many families” is political “at its ugliest.” In addition, the Council for Refugees warns against an accumulating number of files from family members who may be entitled to come over, who will soon all receive a visa at the same time: “The measure is intended to relieve the pressure on reception, but unfortunately there is now a threat of a new reception crisis. cause.”
It was clear from the outset that the family reunification measure could be legally problematic. Van der Burg officials already warned him that the legal basis of the restriction is questionable. In the first instance, a preliminary relief judge in Haarlem decided on December 5 that a Syrian refugee could immediately bring her family to the Netherlands. Nevertheless, Van der Burg stuck to the measure. Since then, judgments have also followed from the courts in Amsterdam, The Hague, Arnhem and Breda, which all concluded that the measure is legally baseless.
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