Three non-Ukrainian refugees of the war in Ukraine are allowed to stay in the Netherlands for now, the court in Roermond decided yesterday. The decision goes against an earlier ruling of the Dutch Council of State.
Two weeks ago, the temporary protection for third-country nationals (TCNs) ended in the Netherlands, as ruled by the Dutch Council of State (RvS) in January. Unless they applied for asylum, TCNs were given until the beginning of April to leave the country. In this case, TCNs refer to refugees of the war in Ukraine who had a temporary residence permit in Ukraine when Russia invaded. The decision impacted almost 2,500 refugees, according to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).
However, in response to three cases submitted, the Aliens Chamber of the court in Roermond ruled that “these third-country nationals retain their right to temporary protection for as long as all other displaced persons from Ukraine who have been granted temporary protection.” This means that the three TCNs are now eligible for temporary protection until March 4th 2025.
The Ministry for Justice and Security will appeal the decision, a spokesperson for state secretary Van der Burg announced, according to NOS.
The temporary protection was unanimously triggered by the Council of the European Union in March 2022 until March 2024 to address the influx of non-EU refugees from the war in Ukraine. Individual EU member states could decide whether this protection was extended to TCNs. Last year the Council extended the temporary protection until 2025.
