People who apply for asylum in the Netherlands, but who have already been granted asylum in another EU country, may be detained to ensure that they return to the other Member State. That judges the Council of State on Wednesday after a lengthy legal procedure. According to the Council, the European Return Directive does not stand in the way of detention of a foreign national in such cases.
The Council discussed the issue following the asylum application of a woman who already had valid refugee status in Germany. The State Secretary decided not to consider the content of the application because of her status in Germany. Because the woman did not want to return to Germany on her own, she was placed in detention in October 2018. She then invoked the European Return Directive, which lays down rules on the return of asylum seekers to the country where they already have status.
According to the Council, the detention was not contrary to this Returns Directive and, moreover, ‘necessary and proportionate’. She refers to a judgment of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg last February. The Court then ruled that the State Secretary may detain a foreign national with a view to forced return to the EU Member State where the person already has a residence status.
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