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Just 10 refugee children won residency via the amnesty last year

May 20, 2015

children playgroundJust 10 refugee children were given permission to stay in the Netherlands via the general amnesty last year, the NRC reports on Wednesday.

In total, 530 children expected to be given residency rights under the amnesty in 2014, the paper says. Children’s rights group Defence for Children says the figures are ‘shocking’ and show the conditions for qualification are much too strict.

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. Being under local council supervision does not count.

Defence for Children and the UN’s children’s rights group Unicef published their annual report on the state of children’s rights in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

In the report, Defence for Children also said it was concerned about the disappearance of so many children from refugee centres.

Last year 110 youngsters under the age of 18 vanished without trace, despite the government being responsible for them.

‘We are talking about children who came here alone, without parents,’ the organisation said. ‘They run a real risk of being preyed on by child traffickers.’

‘Normally when a child goes missing, an Amber Alert is issued for them,’ the organisation said. ‘But for these children there is no investigation.’

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