The cabinet has discussed the way the refugee amnesty for children has been applied but does not intend to change the rules because that would not be ‘realistic’, junior justice minister Fred Teeven said on Friday afternoon.

Teeven is under pressure from the coalition Labour party, half the country’s mayors and the children’s ombudsman to take a more generous approach with the amnesty and give more of them permanent residency rights.

The amnesty, agreed by Labour and the right-wing VVD as part of their coalition deal, only applies to children who have lived in the Netherlands for at least five years under the care of national government.

Discretionary rights

According to Labour, 97 children missed out on a residency permit because of this clause and 26 of them have been given a discretionary right to stay by the minister.

So far, 180 mayors have signed a petition calling on Teeven to rethink and include children who were under council supervision as well.

Teeven said on Friday he would look at the position of a ‘defined group’ of children to decide if he can make use of his discretionary powers. However, this will be done secretly, he said. ‘You do not share this with the world, that is why it is discretionary,’ he said.

Earlier this week, the children’s ombudsman Marc Dullaert described the way the rules are being applied as ‘idiotic’ and said he planned to publish some of the children’s stories on his website.

Last month it emerged 3,280 minors had applied for residency permits under the amnesty and 1,710 were rejected. The children of parents suspected of war crimes are not eligible for the amnesty either.