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Netherlands: Airlines face new measures

01 May 1997

Junior Justice Minister Schmitz has announced new plans to deal with airline companies carrying asylum seekers without valid papers. Schmitz wants all airline companies to copy or scan all documents possessed by travellers before they allow them to travel. The Dutch government aims to make it easier to establish the identity and nationality of any asylum seeker, which will make deportation easier. Any company failing to do this faces heavy fines. Although such measures are legally sanctioned they have not been applied up until now.

Iranian asylum-seekers to be deported

The Dutch government has announced that all Iranian asylum seekers whose applications for leave to remain are rejected will be deported back to Iran. According to junior Justice Minister Schmitz none of the Iranians who have been deported have had any problems with the Iranian authorities. Army deserters and conscientious objectors will also be deported according to Schmitz, as there is "no evidence that their individual situations pose any danger".

The Dutch Justice Ministry has based its assessment on a report from the embassy in Iran, which claims that although incitement to desert or to refuse military service remains a criminal offence, the act of desertion is no longer included in criminal law. The embassy report claims that recent events in Iran have led to increased democratisation although it does express concern over human rights.

Evidence from civil liberties and human rights groups, however, contradicts the Dutch government's analysis of Iran. The European Race Audit reports that of the nine Iranians deported from the Netherlands since 1994, "five have subsequently disappeared, probably detained by the security police."

NRC Handelsblad Weekeditie, 17.6.97; European Race Audit, 23.5.97.