A Dictionary of Dutchness

AMA

AMA stands for alleenstaande minderjarige asielzoeker (unaccompanied under-age asylum seeker) and refers to the estimated 15,000 children and young people under the age of 18 who are claiming asylum in the Netherlands. AMAs are usually housed in refugee centres until they are 18. Then official financial support is withdrawn and they are encouraged to go back home. Many AMAs simply disappear from the system. In 2008, a police investigation showed that hundreds of AMAs had been brought to the Netherlands to work as prostitutes.