A “gigantic survival instinct” forced Palestinian Hamza Al S. (33) to leave Gaza years ago. His search for safety and protection cost him at least 5,000 euros, that's how expensive it was just to leave the blockaded Gaza Strip. He was targeted by Hamas because of his work as a freelance journalist and as a fixer for foreign journalists. Al S. (full name withheld for the sake of his safety) said he was regularly called to task, time and again he had to explain “the narrative” he had about life in the Gaza Strip at a police station in the north of Gaza. sold to the outside world.
The threatened journalist applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 2022, but he has still not received a decision on his application. Before October 7, when the war in Gaza started in response to the Hamas terror attack in Israel, he still understood this. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) still has too little capacity to take a timely decision on all asylum applications. But the war in Gaza has made his case “more urgent.” His incomprehension about the lack of a decision grows every day.
Palestinian refugees do not simply receive a residence permit in the Netherlands, due to their special status within the UN Refugee Convention. The specially established UN organization UNRWA (active in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) has been tasked with protecting them and providing for their daily necessities since 1949. Only when it can be determined that this organization is no longer able to fulfill these tasks will Palestinians have a chance of receiving an asylum permit elsewhere. In 2020, the court in Amsterdam ruled for the first time that there is a humanitarian emergency in Gaza, and that it can no longer simply be assumed that UNRWA can protect Palestinians.
Decision stop
Palestinians from Gaza who have submitted an asylum application in the Netherlands have had to wait longer for a decision from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) since December. Then a so-called decision moratorium was announced, which means for at least six months no decisions on Palestinian asylum applications are taken. According to outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum, VVD), this has to do with the uncertain situation in Gaza. The Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State will consider the legality of the decision freeze on Wednesday. Asylum lawyer Flip Schüller states that the seriousness of the security situation in the area means that Palestinian asylum seekers should “no longer be put on hold.” He also points to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The IND has no “reliable figures” available about the number of Palestinians who have applied for asylum. The reason for this is that Palestinian nationality is not recognised. Vluchtelingenwerk also does not have precise figures.
Schüller, who is assisting two Palestinians from Gaza with their asylum procedure, believes that the State Secretary should better explain why the security situation in Gaza cannot be properly monitored until at least June. Citizens are exposed to serious indiscriminate violence as a result of an ongoing armed conflict, the asylum lawyer says. In that light, he believes that Palestinians from Gaza should automatically be entitled to international protection. In the current asylum policy, this automatic recognition only applies to: Yemen.
State Secretary Van der Burg does not deny that the security situation in Gaza is “very bad”, it appears a letter to Parliament from last December. Yet, according to him, the Israeli war in Gaza creates so much uncertainty that it is “too early.” [is] to draw definitive conclusions” on the question of whether Palestinians need “international protection.”
Critical level extreme violence
Denmark decided to start processing asylum applications from Palestinians from Gaza at the beginning of this month, arguing that a critical level of extreme violence had been reached in the area. It risk of violation of the ban on inhuman or degrading treatment has become too great, according to the Danish immigration authorities.
The Dutch government hopes for “intensive diplomatic consultations” between the international community and the warring parties in Gaza, according to the defense statement of the country's attorney, which is in the hands of NRC. According to the government, the diplomatic consultations can put an end to the violence. Schüller detects a “chronic optimism” on the part of the cabinet in this. According to the lawyer, there is currently “no indication” that the violence will end, let alone that the humanitarian need can be quickly resolved. According to him, the mere fact that “negotiations” are taking place should not be a reason to do nothing “in the meantime” during a humanitarian disaster.
In November, a six-day ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas. Afterwards, the bombings and shelling resumed, targeting civilian infrastructure and safe havens in particular. The ongoing violence has continued until now more than thirty thousand Palestinians lives, at least 1.9 million people have been displaced. It is unclear whether another ceasefire can be agreed upon in the short term, partly because there is disagreement between Israel and Hamas about how long such a truce should last.
'Not a fair position'
Nothing is temporary about the situation in Gaza, says Gazan asylum seeker Al S. He believes that State Secretary Van der Burg is “not taking an honest position”. “People have been dying there for years because of the blockade and the long-term violence between Hamas and Israel,” he says. His neighborhood in northern Gaza has now been “completely destroyed.”
From research by NRC it has previously emerged that at least 35 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or seriously damaged since October. Other media report that at least half of the buildings have fallen into disuse.
The scale of the humanitarian disaster in the area is also becoming increasingly clear. The health system has collapsed, there is little access to water and electricity and more and more Palestinians are facing famine. Humanitarian organizations accuse the Israeli government of blocking emergency aid.
According to the country's lawyer, news reports about the situation in Gaza are “not directly relevant” or “decisive” for the question of whether Palestinians from the area need international protection. The defense shows that the State Secretary believes that he is still unable to assess the situation in Gaza due to a lack of verifiable information. Reports from, for example, human rights organization Amnesty International about alleged war crimes by the Israeli army, are pushed aside by the State Secretary. For example, Amnesty and other organizations are said to be unfamiliar with “the Israeli data that led to” specific attacks on civilian infrastructure. The State Secretary also points out that Amnesty has not had direct access to the blockaded Gaza Strip since at least 2012.
Also read
A medical catastrophe is looming in Gaza
Genocide accusations
In the lawsuit over the Dutch deliveries of F-35 parts to the Israeli army, Lean the court on public sources and reports that provide an overview of the security and humanitarian situation in Gaza. The same applies to the International Court of Justice, which is considering South Africa's genocide accusations against Israel.
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip without a departure visa have virtually no options to leave the area, because the border is kept tightly closed by Israel and Egypt. According to lawyer Schüller, lifting the decision moratorium could still mean a lot for family members of Gazan status holders. Their departure from the area would then be realized as a priority, as witnessed a previous commitment of the outgoing cabinet.
In the meantime, the Palestinian Al S. has little energy and hope left. He calls the uncertainty about his asylum application an alienating experience. As far as he is concerned, delaying applications from people from clear conflict areas such as Gaza is wrong. “The constant waiting is a heavy burden to bear,” he says, “and life without loved ones very difficult.”
#endangered #Gazan #asylum #seeker #waiting #residence #permit #years