D-day looms for asylum decisions

Almost all the 26,000 asylum-seekers who arrived in the Netherlands before April 2001 have now had a decision on their application to remain in the country, said today’s Volkskrant, quoting sources in The Hague.


In June MPs demanded that immigration minister Rita Verdonk process these cases before 1 October. The group of 26,000 became symbolic of a less tolerant government attitude towards immigrants and there have been repeated calls from all walks of life for a general pardon for this group, the majority of whom have lived in the Netherlands for many years.

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