The way the government has applied the amnesty for child refugees is ‘idiotic’, children’s ombudsman Marc Dullaert says in Wednesday’s Volkskrant.

The ombudsman says he is planning to publish dozens of files on his website about children who were refused a permanent residency permit. ‘This will make it clear exactly who we are talking about,’ Dullaert told the Volkskrant.

In particular it is ‘idiotic’ that children who have lived longer than five years in the Netherlands will be deported because they were under local authority supervision rather than the national government.

‘These children went to school, were members of sports clubs and were in touch with social workers. They were clearly visible to the authorities,’ he said.

Rejections

Last month it emerged 3,280 minors had applied for residency permits under the amnesty and 1,710 were rejected.

Dullaert said he has asked junior justice minister Fred Teeven to explain how the amnesty was applied but has not yet had a reply.

To qualify for the amnesty, children should have lived in the Netherlands for at least five years and not been out of contact with the Dutch authorities for more than three months. They must also be under the age of 21 and have lied about their identity to officials no more than once.

Parliament

The amnesty for child refugees formed part of the coalition agreement between the VVD and Labour party in 2012.

This week a number of local Dutch mayors plus refugee and childrens’ rights organisations began a campaign to have the amnesty more fairly applied. Opposition MPs have also called for a change in the rigid way Teeven has ruled out children who were under local but not national government supervision.