six third-country nationals retain the right to reception for the time being

NOS News•today, 10:35 PM•Amended today, 11:16 PM

Six third-country nationals retain their right to reception for the time being. The Council of State decided this tonight. It is still unclear whether this will also apply to all other third-country nationals who actually had to leave the country. The State Secretary for Justice has yet to respond to this, but rulings by the Council of State usually serve as examples in other administrative cases.

The highest administrative court rules that third-country nationals may in any case remain in reception centers until the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has answered the question of what exactly the European directive is in the case of third-country nationals.

Third-country nationals are people who fled the war from Ukraine and lived there, but do not have Ukrainian nationality. In the Netherlands this concerns a group of about 2,500 people. Until now, they had the same rights as Ukrainian refugees, but their right to reception expired today.

Dozens of third-country nationals challenged their deportation in court, resulting in very varying and sometimes contradictory rulings. The courts in Arnhem, The Hague, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Zwolle agreed with the deportation, while the courts in Den Bosch, Haarlem and Roermond found that the third-country nationals should be allowed to stay for as long as Ukrainian refugees.

The provisional ruling of the Council of State follows a decision by the Amsterdam District Court. He has asked the European Court in Luxembourg for an explanation on the question of whether third-country nationals are entitled to the same protection as Ukrainians. Until those questions are answered, all cases of third-country nationals in the capital are gone hold put. The same may now apply to other matters.

A number of municipalities where judges had ruled differently have today started removing third-country nationals from shelters, such as Dordrecht, Zwijndrecht, Meppel and Alblasserdam. It is not immediately clear whether the third-country nationals who were received there after the ruling of the Council of State can return to the reception centers.

The municipality of Dordrecht informed the NOS in a response that, as far as they are concerned, the ruling does not apply to all third-country nationals. “Tonight the Council of State has taken a specific decision for the six people (in Amsterdam – ed.) involved in this case.” Dordrecht therefore says that it will “follow the line communicated from the Ministry of Justice and Security” until the State Secretary indicates otherwise.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security says the ruling is being looked into. “In a short period of time, the Council of State has made two contradictory statements. This lack of clarity does not help anyone at all. It does not contribute to trust and governance. We are now looking at what exactly this means.”