NETHERLANDS: ASYLUM SEEKERS SPEAK OF THEIR FEARS AS DUTCH PARLIAMENT APPROVES PLANS TO EXPEL UP TO TWENTY SIX THOUSAND FAILED APPLICANTS.
Record ID:
647382
NETHERLANDS: ASYLUM SEEKERS SPEAK OF THEIR FEARS AS DUTCH PARLIAMENT APPROVES PLANS TO EXPEL UP TO TWENTY SIX THOUSAND FAILED APPLICANTS.
- Title: NETHERLANDS: ASYLUM SEEKERS SPEAK OF THEIR FEARS AS DUTCH PARLIAMENT APPROVES PLANS TO EXPEL UP TO TWENTY SIX THOUSAND FAILED APPLICANTS.
- Date: 17th February 2004
- Summary: (U7) THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (FEBRUARY 17, 2004) (NOS - NO ACCESS NETHERLANDS) 1. IMMIGRATION AND INTEGRATION MINISTER RITA VERDONK, ASYLUM-MINISTER AS VOTE IS BEING TAKEN 0.10 2. MAXIME VERHAGEN (CDA, CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS) 0.17 3. PULL OUT: FROM JOZIAS VAN AARTSEN (VVD, LIBERAL) TO W/S OF LOWER HOUSE. 0.25 4. WS: LOWER HOUSE. 0.36 5. SCU: VERDONK AND MINISTER MARIA VERHOEVEN, EDUCATION, VERDONK LEAVING. (2 SHOTS) 0.54 (U7) THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (FEBRUARY 17, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6. MV: 26-YEAR-OLD TURKISH KURDISH MOTHER ZYNEP AND HER TWO CHILDREN SITTING IN ROOM. 1.03 7. CU: HAND OF FIVE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER SULTAN HOLDING CRAYON, DRAWING 1.07 8. CU: FACE OF SULTAN. 1.09 9. CU: FACE OF MOTHER ZYNEP. PULL OUT TO ZYNEP AND DAUGHTER SULTAN. 1.15 10. SCU: THREE-YEAR OLD SON GARIBO SITTING WITH PEN AND PAPER. 1.18 11. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (DUTCH) 26-YEAR-OLD MOTHER ZYNEP SAYING: "I have two children and they were both born in Holland. But I have a lot of problems, I do not want to go back to that country, I do not want to go back to Turkey, because I have a lot of problems there. I want to stay in Holland, but Holland is saying you have to leave, leave. It is easy for them, but for us it is very, very difficult." 1.45 12. CU: PICTURES ON WALL OF SULTAN AND GARIBO WITH DUTCH SAINT NICOLAAS 1.48 13. VARIOUS: SULTAN PLAYING WITH BARBIE DOLL. (2 SHOTS) 2.10 14. PAN TO GARIBO LAYING ON BED, DRINKING FROM BOTTLE. 2.17 15. CU: PAPERWORK INSIDE OFFICE OF PRIME, ORGANISATION WHICH HELPS ASYLUM SEEKERS. 2.21 16. SCU: AHMED POURI, SPOKESMAN OF PRIME, LOOKING THROUGH PAPERS. 2.25 17. CU: POSTER ON WALL SHOWING ASYLUM SEEKERS READING: "WE ARE NOT DANGEROUS, WE ARE IN DANGER" 2.29 18. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) AHMED POURI, SPOKESMAN FOR PRIME, SAYING: "We are confronted with the results of this law. We are getting a lot of reactions from the street. One example is the story of a woman who ended on the street and was offered housing by a man. But at night he came to her bed. There are so many people that are being raped, or end up on the street. These people are very helpless and very vulnerable. And nobody is looking at these aspects of the policy, who pays the price for that? 3.03 19. MV: ZYNEP PUSHING HER SON ON SWING. 3.11 20. CU: FACE OF SULTAN WATCHING. 3.19 21. CU: ZYNEP WATCHING, LOOKING SAD. 3.26 22. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) AHMED POURI, SPOKESMAN FOR PRIME, SAYING: "I think the Dutch policy is unfair, negligent and merciless. Human beings are the victims of this policy, but there is no correction for the policy. The Dutch government sticks to the policy while they know that people have been put in jail after returning, or even have been killed." 3.50 23. CU: ZYNEP (SCENE FROM THE REAR) WALKING WITH CHILDREN IN PARK. 4.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 3rd March 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA5B9HJHWEQ0X82QZA7PRH03OZ1
- Story Text: Asylum seekers speak of their fears as Dutch
parliament approves plans to expel up to 26,000 failed
applicants.
The Dutch parliament approved plans on Tuesday
(February 17) to expel up to 26,000 failed asylum seekers.
The plans, which still have to be endorsed by
parliament's upper house, would force those asylum seekers
whose applications have been rejected, to leave over three
years, while some 2,300 others would be granted amnesty.
The plans, proposed by Immigration and Integration
Minister Rita Verdonk, would be unprecedented in Europe and
have triggered large protests.
The new policy has to ensure that those asylum seekers
whose applications have been rejected -- many who have been
in the country long enough to raise families and take jobs
-- are helped to return home.
They would be given eight weeks to leave the
Netherlands voluntarily and then taken to special departure
centres where they would be given assistance to leave
voluntarily or be forcibly repatriated after another eight
weeks.
26-year old Zynep, a Kurdish woman from eastern Turkey,
is one of the many women whose application has been turned
down and has to leave the country.
Just like many others, Zynep does not want to go. She
has lived in the Netherlands for six years. While waiting
for a final decision on her case she gave birth to two
children who are both attending Dutch schools.
Zynep is convinced that returning to her home village
is dangerous. She is afraid of the authorities that made
her decide to flee the country. On top of that she feels
she would not fit back into the traditional culture and
would not be accepted by her family.
"I have two children and they were both born in
Holland. But I have a lot of problems, I do not want to go
back to that country, I do not want to go back to Turkey,
because I have a lot of problems there. I want to stay in
Holland, but Holland is saying you have to leave, leave. It
is easy for them, but for us it is very, very difficult,"
said Zynep in broken Dutch.
Zynep is distressed and does not want to talk about her
future plans. Probably she will choose to go underground.
Ahmed Pouri, coordinator of PRIME, an organisation that
tries to improve the situation of asylum seekers in the
Netherlands, says the new policy is creating new
humanitarian problems.
"We are confronted with the results of this law. We are
getting a lot of reactions from the street. One example is
the story of a woman who ended on the street and was
offered housing by a man. But at night he came to her bed.
There are so many people that are being raped, or end up on
the street. These people are very helpless and very
vulnerable. And nobody is looking at these aspects of the
policy, who pays the price for that?" Pouri said.
While several countries, including Britain and Denmark,
have tightened asylum policies, none have gone as far as
mass expulsions, which some critics have compared with the
World War Two deportation of Dutch Jews during Nazi
occupation.
The Dutch government has defended its policy, saying
all asylum applications had been carefully scrutinised and
there was no question of anyone at risk being forced to
leave.
But Pouri, who has worked with asylum seekers since
1995, has experienced the opposite.
"I think the Dutch policy is unfair, negligent and
merciless. Human beings are the victims of this policy, but
there is no correction for the policy. The Dutch government
sticks to its policy, even when they know that people have
been put in jail after returning, or even have been
killed," he said.
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