Junior justice minister Fred Teeven said on Tuesday he has no intention of widening the terms of an amnesty for child refugees to include those who lived in the Netherlands outside national government supervision.

On Monday it emerged around half the applications for the amnesty were rejected – a fact criticised by opposition MPs who said the minister had been too strict.

In particular, the minister was criticised for excluding children who lived in local authority housing and attended school but were not monitored by national refugee bodies.

800 children

Teeven said at the time the amnesty was launched around 800 children would probably qualify. With almost all the cases now dealt with, 675 children and 775 family members have been given leave to stay.

The minister said in answer to MPs questions on Tuesday that setting boundaries means some people will always be excluded. The minister does have discretionary powers to approve asylum requests.

Earlier on Tuesday the children’s ombudsman asked Teeven to clarify the situation surrounding children who were known to local government but not the national authorities.

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.

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