The Council for Refugees wants the government to continue to receive third-country nationals

The Council for Refugees calls the temporary judgment of the highest administrative court “the only guidance that there is now. We assume that the government will act in the interests of third-country nationals, municipalities and other stakeholders and will follow that guiding ruling.” The organization calls for haste, “because as long as there is no clarity from the cabinet, the chaotic situation that has now arisen will continue.” The Council for Refugees asks municipalities to “stand still for the time being and not to take any irreversible steps”.

Third-country nationals are people who lived in Ukraine with a temporary residence permit. When Russia invaded that country in 2022, they fled to the Netherlands. They received protection here. It expired last month. They had until Tuesday to leave the shelter or apply for asylum. Some municipalities already started expelling third-country nationals from reception on Tuesday.

Dozens of third-country nationals are trying to prevent their deportation through the courts. Courts contradict each other. The cases ultimately end up before the Council of State. The court in Amsterdam has asked the highest court in the European Union for clarification of European agreements on the protection of refugees from Ukraine. The third-country nationals may therefore stay pending an answer. The Council for Refugees calls this “yet another twist in a long and nasty roller coaster that third-country nationals and municipalities have been on for a long time.”