The Cabinet disagrees with the ruling by several judges on family reunification policy for family members of beneficiaries. Several courts ruled this week that deferring family reunification is against the law. The government will appeal to the Council of State.
By appealing, the cabinet wants to hear from the highest administrative court whether postponement of family reunification for status holders is legally possible or not.
This week, five rulings were handed down by different courts, in lawsuits brought by status holders. For example, the court in Breda ruled on Thursday that a Turkish man no longer has to wait for family reunification. The man obtained a residence permit as a political refugee.
All the judges came to the same conclusion: postponing family reunification for status holders is contrary to the family reunification directive and to European and international treaties.
It is not yet clear whether family members of all five status holders can come to the Netherlands. In two of these cases, the court ruled that they must receive the documents from the embassy immediately or within 24 hours. The Cabinet responded to this in one case and asked the State Council to stay the decision in the other case pending an appeal.
In the other three cases, the court set a longer deadline for the delivery of the documents, for example one week. Also in these cases the government has asked the Council of State for a postponement.
The family reunification measure is part of the coalition agreement on asylum
In early December, a first aid judge had already ruled on a case brought by a Syrian woman. The judge ruled in her favor. Her husband and her six children were allowed to move to the Netherlands immediately.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) decided to maintain the family reunification measure because he wanted to wait for the verdict of several judges.
The cabinet wants to delay family reunification due to the reception crisis. Such a policy would be necessary to prevent situations such as those that occurred earlier this year in Ter Apel. The pressure on reception capacity is still very high.
The policy is part of an asylum deal concluded by the coalition. Immediately after the announcement, there was already a lot of criticism from lawyers. They warned that the measure is against the law. Officials from the Ministry of Justice and Security also had their doubts. However, a majority in the House of Representatives did not want the measure legally tested beforehand.
‘New reception crisis looming’
The restriction on family reunification applies to family members of people who are already in the Netherlands. The cabinet decided in late August that the visa would be issued no later than fifteen months after the family reunification application was submitted. If the status holder already has a home for his relatives traveling to the Netherlands, the visa will be issued sooner.
The Refugee Council calls the decision to continue the litigation “completely irresponsible”. In this way, according to the organization, Van der Burg would assume the risk of itself creating a new reception crisis. “It is no longer a question of if, but when the Secretary of State should withdraw his policy. All expectant family members can still come to the Netherlands, but all at the same time.”
