Third country nationals who fled to the Netherlands when Russia invaded Ukraine will continue to have the same rights as Ukrainians, pending clarification from the European court of justice, junior justice minister Eric van der Burg has confirmed.

A mishmash of conflicting legal decisions had led to confusion about what rights the third party nationals have. The foreign students and workers who were in Ukraine before the invasion had been ordered to go home, but many had challenged the government’s position in court.

The highest Dutch court, the Council of State, then referred the issue to the European court for its opinion, but it is unclear when that is due.

Van der Burg said in his briefing that third country nationals will continue to have the same rights as Ukrainians and that he has already briefed local authorities who are responsible for providing accommodation.

Some 2,500 third-party nationals, often students, workers or people married to Ukrainians, are in the Netherlands. They will be informed about their right to stay by the IND immigration service, Van der Burg said.