Crisis cabinet talks on refugees delayed until Friday

Crisis talks between the two Dutch coalition parties about what to do with people who have been refused asylum in the Netherlands will resume again on Friday, Dutch media report.

The talks had continued deep into Wednesday night without result and were due to restart on Thursday afternoon. However, they have now been moved on a day to give the parties time to prepare their positions, the Volkskrant says.

The talks follow a ruling by the Council of Europe on Wednesday which said the Netherlands has to provide bed and board for undocumented people, but that it is up to the Dutch to decide how to do this.

The official Dutch policy is to evict people who have failed to qualify as refugees from refugee centres and to encourage them to return home. However, thousands have no paperwork or argue they cannot go back because it would be unsafe.

The coalition Labour party wants to continue providing emergency accommodation but the VVD does not. It says offering bed and board will act as a draw to other asylum seekers.

According to the Volkskrant, there are around 60,000 undocumented refugees in the Netherlands who were originally asylum seekers.