A Dutch judge has refused to send a Chinese asylum seeker back to Belgium out of concerns he could face inhumane treatment at the hands of the Belgian authorities. The Chinese national applied for asylum in the Netherlands last summer, but it soon emerged he had already applied in Belgium. As a result his application couldn’t be processed by the Dutch authorities. Under European rules he was supposed to be sent back to Belgium. The Chinese appealed against that decision pointing to the lack of capacity for asylum seekers south of the border.
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Dutch judge refuses to send asylum seeker back to Belgium due to risk of “inhumane treatment”
Colin Clapson
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A judge in the Hague found in the man’s favour accepting that he might face inhumane treatment in Belgium and not get any board or accommodation. The ruling probably means the Dutch will now have to treat asylum seekers who are supposed to be sent back to Belgium differently than those that should be returned to other EU countries.
Thomas Willekens of the refugee charity Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen says the Dutch ruling means Belgium is undermining the Dublin system, which it attaches so much importance to. Under the Dublin Agreement asylum seekers must apply for asylum in the first EU state they enter and can be sent back from third countries.
“It’s the right decision” says lawyer Kati Verstrepen and president of the Belgium Human Rights League when considering the Dutch ruling. “This is a disgrace for Belgium. We also always say countries should take their responsibilities and then we don’t do it ourselves”.
Asylum secretary De Moor (Flemish Christian democrat) says Dublin rules should be applied across the EU ahead of a fairer distribution of asylum seekers across the bloc. 14,537 asylum seekers who applied for asylum in Belgium last year had already done so in another EU state. “If these countries had taken their responsibilities seriously, Belgium wouldn’t be facing an asylum accommodation crisis” De Moor argues.