Junior justice minister Fred Teeven has no plans to expand the age limit for inclusion in the amnesty for child refugees, the NRC reports on Friday.
Teeven told MPs on Thursday evening he is prepared to be lenient about a few days over the 21-year limit but not weeks or months. The criteria for the amnesty were agreed in the coalition accord, the minister said.
He did not comment on the case of Angolan man Wime Dumingos who at 22 years and six months is too old to qualify for the amnesty for well-rooted child refugees introduced last year. Dumingos has lived in the Netherlands since he was 10.
Teeven does have discretionary powers to deal with special cases.
Teeven also told MPs that 3,260 applications for the amnesty have been made on behalf of children and their family members and 1,800 have been refused.
Of those, 1,330 cases have now gone to appeal. Teeven said at the time the amnesty was launched he expected it would apply to 800 children.
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