Last week, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that the Netherlands is not doing enough to ensure the right of children to a nationality. Within six months, the state must justify to the UN what actions have been taken to rectify this. To fulfill its obligations, the Lower House should amend the newly introduced bill on child statelessness and bring it in line with international law.
Jan. 4, 2021 -If you are stateless you have a big problem since nationality gives you access to rights, legal protection and a place in the world where you are “at home” and can participate in society. This is why the right of every child to a nationality is laid down in various international treaties, to which the Netherlands is also a party. As a result of inadequate legislation and far-reaching bureaucracy, children born in our country are insufficiently protected against statelessness.
A groundbreaking ruling
Just before the turn of the year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a groundbreaking ruling on the situation of 10-year-old Denny and other stateless people in the Netherlands. This has brought new hope to all those born in the Netherlands whose nationality is “unknown.
According to the Human Rights Committee, not only should Denny’s nationality status be reviewed, but Dutch law should be changed immediately to prevent similar cases in the future. Too many children now fall between the cracks because of the requirements for recognition of statelessness. This does not take into account, for example, the barriers inherent in proving you don’t have something. This results in the registration “unknown nationality,” as in the case of Denny and, in 2019, 6,303 other children under the age of 14. As a result, the special procedure by which stateless children can obtain Dutch nationality cannot be used. In addition, three years of lawful residence is required before a stateless child born in the Netherlands can realize his or her right to nationality – a condition that violates international standards.
According to Jelle Klaas of PILP, one of the lawyers assisting Denny and organizations working to improve the position of stateless people in the Netherlands, the verdict of the UN Human Rights Committee is
‘a tremendous victory for human rights. The Committee not only says something about the mistakes made in Denny’s case, but also clearly shows the Netherlands how things can and should be done differently, for Denny and all other stateless children.’
Second Chamber now to act
Two bills that together should ensure improved treatment of stateless persons in the Netherlands have already been introduced. But their content currently leaves a lot to be desired, according to the UN Human Rights Committee and Dutch experts.
For example, the idea is that a procedure will soon be added for obtaining Dutch nationality by stateless children born in the Netherlands after living here for at least ten years, waiting ten years in limbo, mostly without rights and nationality, using the criterion of ‘stable main residence.
‘With this, the Netherlands wants to regulate something for stateless children without residence status but with the alternative condition of stable main residence, little actually changes and the child’s right to nationality is still made dependent on the parents’ behavior,’
said Laura van Waas, Co-Director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, a Netherlands-based center of expertise working for the rights of stateless people at home and abroad.
‘The best interests of the child must come first and the House of Representatives should not settle for a symbolic measure.’
The UN’s recent judgment is not isolated. The current bills are also not in line with the advice of the Council of State, nor with previous recommendations of, among others, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and should therefore be amended.
The government has previously promised the Lower House that the verdict of the UN Committee on this case will be discussed in parliament. The organizations, experts and lawyers who are active on statelessness in the Netherlands (see below) are reaching out their hands to the government and the Lower House and are eager to think about how the Netherlands can stop violating human rights on this issue and do better.
Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, ASKV, Defence for Children Netherlands, Dutch Legal Committee for Human Rights (NJCM) and VluchtelingenWerk Nederland.
