Shame, Shame, Shame.
"Nice policy" : if you can not protect them - let them kill themselves. Pushing a person to commit a suiside is the criminal offence in many countries.

"Leers told the media last summer 40 asylum seekers have killed themselves in refugee centres since 2002 and there are some 40 attempts a year" - I hope he said it with a joyful grin on his face, Rutte smiling at his side at a big fat luncheon with Wilders.

There will always be sad stories no matter what but this is no reason to shape immigration or asylum seeker policies.

The fact is the NL is on 15 million people max with a low birthrate whilst some of the countries these people come from have 100 million people with some of the highest birthrates on earth. To ignore this is stupidity.

This is an unfortunate situation, but rules are rules. It was not the Netherlands fault this person spent 5 years trying to fight deportation. He should never have come to Europe first place. It is sad, but Netherlands can't be the destination of last resort for any victim of war. This is a small country going through an economic crisis.

This is shocking...does the death toll need to run into 3 digit figures before some form of action is taken by the government to deal with this problem? Surely there is a 'duty of care' on behalf of the State once people have entered the asylum process.

What a sad and tragic story. I hope the Dutch government won't expel these poor children. What future will they have in Burundi, without their parents?

Very sad..
Hope people in power make the life of everyone easier.

This is so desperately sad

Amazing that Gerd Leers - immigration minister/executioner is still running the show!

When you all too clearly see that people are so desperate that the would rather kill themselves than be kicked out of the country, then it's time to raise the question how fair and just your policy is!

"There will always be sad stories" or "rules are rules"!? Come on!

Sorry to say... D guy acted wrongly.... When there is life there is hope... When he kills himself for a set of pple who never cares about him nor his children... Then the cause is not worth it.
Just unfortunate..!!!..... I hope your kids will learn how it works... So that they can live to tell their stories to their 3rd generation.

So many useless profesionals. And thats ok its choice of people. Only that assertiveness is word that is late about 30 years here. I wonder if this poor man had bunch of money would he still be deported? Probably not, he would even be invited to invest here! Double faces of gov.!

what's extremely sad to me is the attitude that rules are rules without any trace of human sympathy or empathy. this is very disturbing - in my opinion.

"This is an unfortunate situation, but rules are rules. It was not the Netherlands fault this person spent 5 years trying to fight deportation. He should never have come to Europe first place. It is sad, but Netherlands can't be the destination of last resort for any victim of war. This is a small country going through an economic crisis".I hope people like Andre will read, learn and understand the dynamics of international affairs and make raw statements that lacked substance. Tell the Americans to move from to leave Iraq and other countries, Tell Netherlands to mind its own business then, tell me who are tthe kind to be in Netherlands?

This is sad. Fleeing your own country is for a lot of people not a choice, it is not an expedition to "go to Holland where the streets are paved with gold and where we can freeload for the rest of out lives", that is just a minority.
But, as much as I want to ignore posts that refer to asylum seekers and refugees as "these people" (god, Phil, I really hope you never have to flee your country for political reasons), the problem behind this cannot be ignored. This is not just a Dutch problem, this is every country's problem. If every country in Europe would be more open, we could spread the help.

@Phil @Andre L
Instead of prioritizing rules over sanity, please answer me what exactly has been achieved now? The man committed suicide and his children are orphan's and will probably be sent back to a place they no longer know. The NL low birthrate can not be used as an excuse here. Being allowed to Spend 5 years in a country fighting deportation is ridiculous. If you do not want people, you should deport them with 5 months..have a bit of heart instead of over analyzing a man's death.

@Bill, Alice and Martin: Thank you for your posts. You've written in a calm, polite way what I wrote in a very angry, bitter way (and was subsequently censored). That's fine - I'm okay with it - because there are people like you that can keep calm and write something meaningful. This attitude you speak about has gotten me so upset that I can't keep my head anymore.

Where has all the compassion and empathy gone? Can no one (seemingly) place themselves in others' shoes anymore?

@Alice- These people? Is that all u can come up with? How on Earth is these people offensive?

@Saladin- I agree mate 5 years is ridiculous, deportation after 5 days would be fine to me, it's a way better outcome for all parties.

I think asylum is quite important but I also think that it should really only apply to "the next safe" nation available. Burundi is somewhere half way across the globe it's no where near the Netherlands.If there is a war in Britain,Belgium,Germany ,Denmark etc i think the Netherlands should allow refugees from these countries in.Being very clear about not being able to gain asylum would prevent unfortunate cases like this.We also need to explain that life in the Netherlands or Europe in general is not good for a illegal immigrant and is very tough.

So easy to be smug when we live in a safe society...we can just look at those who didn't choose where they were born and say "too bad. We deserve have a good safe life, but you have to suffer, you loser. How dare you want to have a life as good as ours. You must obviously be a criminal/mooch/cheat."

Is there any guarantee that it won't be you or your children in this position one day, Phil or Andre? Will you just shrug and say, "Oh well. I guess we have to suffer and die because it's wrong to leave our country." Fat chance.

Stupid: it is impossible to NOT occasionally become angry and bitter if you have any small amount of compassion for human beings considering what is going on around us!
Give yourself a break, and thanks for your contributions. Thanks a lot.

As I mentioned before.. stop accepting Asylum seekers! Let them wait out their term of acceptance in a neutral country until a final decision is made. Any refugee that comes here and has to wait a number of years, only to find out that they are not welcome is disgusting, period!!

"Rules are rules." Those three words have been employed by generations of cowards to justify the most heinous of crimes committed.As for Andre.L, perhaps you should live for one day in the world that these people often endure and then maybe your complacent callousness would change.

@CW- With the current policies on immigration and refugees no there isn't any guarantees that my children will be able to grow up in a safe society. Of course I have compassion & I make sure I never discriminate against anyone, my closest work mate is a Muslim, my girlfriend of 10 years is half Asian & I treat everyone with politeness and respect. However this does not mean I don't want to protect my own culture, remain dominate in my own country & have control over my borders. We simply can't help everyone, plus just look at what's happening in some parts of the NL, look at the crime statistics, something is not right.

Humanity has only scratched the surface of its real potential...

the netherland we responsilility for refuge,why know we love to deportion because in AFRICA LIKE BURUNDI know we problem,,the duch people is recist 75%

Let me elaborate further. There probably around 800 million of people worldwide in severe distress because of prosecution of ethnicity, religion, gender (female circumcision), sexual option (gays/lesbians) etc. And there is no room for all of even 1/3 of them in Europe.

Long, protracted revision process of asylum applications were instituted as some humanitarian guarantee to avoid mistakes of the aftermath of WW2. It was meant to give applicants a chance to prove their case. It is not the State who decides to drag the feet, it's the applicant. And the children are innocent bystanders (as usually in many injustices in the World).

It's not a question of people like me not having "empathy" or "sympathy" for such people. It is ridiculous to make extreme accusations when people say "rules are rules" and "there will always be sad stories." We all feel sad and sorry for such people. At some point, however, a person and a society has to begin to apply rules equally - and understand that a small, open, tolerant, democratic country like the Netherlands WILL NOT continue to exist if it imports extensive numbers of people from closed, intolerant, non-democratic countries. We can and should have empathy for the entire world; however, that empathy must be balanced by reason and reality. That means rules that apply equally to all people.

Phil: "some of my best friends are foreigners".

Do people still say that with a straight face?

Yes, it is EXACTLY it...no empathy or sympathy.

Many of these people are ESCAPING these closed, intolerant, non-democratic countries just because they are closed, intolerant, and non-democratic. They challenge the status quo and risk their lives to do so.

And if you actually DID feel empathy or sympathy, you wouldn't just say "regels zijn regels" and slam the door, you would be concerned that a solution must be found and that every country has a responsibility to help. "No room" sounds too much like an excuse to ignore a issue that won't go away.

The European Jews had the same problem about 70 years ago. It was always "someone else's problem". We aren't just citizens of a country; we are citizens of a planet.

@CW

Agreed. Problem is, as I said before, the values, empathy, and sympathy that you and I promote for people around the world, many of whom have little in common with us, that is, in sharing our values of democracy, tolerance, empathy, and sympathy, WILL NOT continue to exist by simply allowing every such person escaping such a country to stay in our country. Unless you want to impose a "test" for their believing in and complying with our values, the failure to do so for which would be deportation of them and their family????? That would be ok with me. Sure, non-Dutch are welcome. But live well up to our standards and values - or return home.