The Netherlands expands ‘rooted’ children, ‘first time since the abolition of children’s pardon’

The return and departure service put three Nigerian children and their mother on the plane to Nigeria. That reports Childsupporto, a foundation that the family has been responsible for recently. According to the foundation, it is the first time that the Netherlands has expanded so-called ‘rooted’ children since the Rutte III cabinet abolished the children’s pardon in 2019.

These are Lydia Imuse and her children Rejoice (7), Sarah (11) and Isaac (16). The mother and the two oldest children lived in an asylum seekers’ center in Emmen for more than eight years; The youngest was born there.

Children of asylum seekers are considered ‘rooted’ when they are in the Netherlands for more than five years. Under the children’s pardon set up in 2013, they were allowed to stay because expulsion would be inhumane after so many years in the Netherlands.

No more needed

In 2019, however, the third Rutte cabinet withdrew the children’s pardon. 569 children received a residence permit, but then it stopped. According to VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie, at the time the coalition parties, was no longer necessary for a children’s pardon, because extra money for immigration service IND would ensure faster asylum procedures. Diritizing cases, in which children were still deported in the Netherlands after more than five years, would no longer occur.

In 2025, little appears to end up. At present, 420 children in the Netherlands are waiting for a decision in their asylum procedure for more than five years, writes Fidelity.

The same goes for the children of the Imuse family. On Wednesday they were told that their asylum application had been definitively rejected, according to Childsupporto. There is another appeal to the Council of State, but the family should not wait for that in the Netherlands. According to the foundation, the children are « not given the opportunity to say goodbye to their friends. »

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