Ministerie van Justitie, Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst

At the suggestion of Ministers Verdonk (Immigration and Integration) and Hirsch Ballin (Justice) the Council of Ministers has approved a number of proposals aimed at protecting unaccompanied minor asylum seekers - who have submitted an application for asylum in the Netherlands - from human traffickers. The Government feels it is essential that additional measures be put in place to put a stop to the disappearance of these minors. The measures apply only to unaccompanied minor asylum seekers over the age of 12 who, based on risk profiles, are considered at risk of disappearing.

To reduce the number of disappearances, a pilot programme will commence in the spring of 2007, in which minors from the at-risk groups are taken care of in closed, small-scale reception centres (children’s communities). In these facilities the minors receive intensive, personal support. The focus will specifically be on educating young people to make them aware of the exploitation situations they could find themselves in. The minors can only leave the reception centre with prior permission and, where possible, under supervision of an accompanying staff member.

The closed reception pilot programme will run for two years. The success of the pilot programme will be assessed on the basis of the reduction in the number of disappearances, the reduction in the number of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in an at-risk category and the increase in the number of minors returning to their country of origin.

In the past year a number of other measures have already been implemented. For instance, 24-hour supervision and support has been put in place in the centres where the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers accommodates unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Furthermore, it is now possible to arrange guardianship for a minor within 24 hours after his or her arrival in the Netherlands and the protocol for missing unaccompanied minor asylum seekers is being updated.

Source: Ministerie van Justitie