Many Russians fled to the Netherlands due to the war in Ukraine. They were afraid of being mobilized in their home country, but now they no longer have the obvious right to stay in the Netherlands. This was announced on Wednesday by Secretary of State Eric van der Burg (Asylum). Their asylum applications can be processed and rejected by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND).
According to the Ministry of Justice and Security (JenV), these Russians no longer need to fear being called up for military operations. The “Russian Defense Minister announced that the mobilization was completed and instructed military units to stop mobilization work by October 31,” the ministry writes.
Asylum applications from conscripted Russians who refuse to serve or conscripted Russian deserters will not receive a decision on their asylum applications for the next six months. They can stay in the Netherlands for now. This so-called decision and departure delay for Russian conscripts was extended for six months on Wednesday.
There is still too little reliable information on the question “to what extent conscripts in Russia were (forced) deployed in the war in Ukraine,” the ministry writes. Therefore, “a careful decision cannot yet be made on the asylum applications of Russian conscripts aged 18 to 27”.
The postponement does not apply to the desertion of Russian professional soldiers. “The information available on their situation is sufficient for the IND to decide on the applications for international protection of this target group,” says the Ministry of JenV.
