A 13-year-old boy who was born in Arnhem and has lived all his life in the Netherlands is to be deported to Vietnam with his parents, broadcaster Nos says on Friday.

Junior justice minister Klaas Dijkhoff has written to Wageningen’s mayor to inform him about his decision to send Tri Pam to Vietnam, the broadcaster says.

Tri Pam’s parents were refused asylum in 2008 but continued to fight the decision. The Dutch authorities say Vietnam is a safe country and there is no reason for them not to return.

Tri Pam is not covered by the amnesty for child refugees because his parents did not always report weekly to the authorities, Nos says. However, Wageningen council says the boy’s whereabouts were always known, and that he attended school.

Efforts by the children’s ombudsman and in the courts to overturn the minister’s decision have so far failed.

Wageningen mayor Geert van Rumund told local broadcaster Omroep Gelderland the boy had never been to Vietnam and does not know the people or its culture. ‘His future is extremely gloomy if he has to go back,’ Van Rumund said.

Court

Last year, the Council of State ruled that to qualify for the amnesty children without proper papers must have been under the supervision of either the immigration service IND, the central refugee agency COA, the deportation service, the foreign police service or the Nidos guardianship institute.

Being in touch with local councils and going to school is not sufficient to qualify for the amnesty because these bodies do not have a role in law in immigration policy, the ruling stated.

A number of local Dutch mayors plus refugee and childrens’ rights organisations have been campaigning to have the amnesty more fairly applied. Opposition MPs have also called for a change in the rigid way the ministry has ruled out children who were under local but not national government supervision.