No decisions on applications filed by asylum seekers from Lebanon for now
For the time being, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) will not make any decisions on asylum applications filed…
IND will assess applications from Yemen individually for the risk of violence
Last update: 18 March 2024
The country-related policy for asylum applications from Yemen has been adjusted. Based on the most recent country report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Dutch: Buitenlandse Zaken, or BUZA), it has been established that the security situation in Yemen has improved but is still fragile. The humanitarian situation is still bad.
It has been stipulated in the new policy that, at present, not everyone in Yemen is not running such a high risk of becoming a victim of random violence that this reason alone will result in asylum status. Because of this policy adjustment, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (in Dutch: Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, or IND) is going to assess individually what the risks are in each asylum process. With this Yemenites will no longer fall within the scope of the current project for accelerated processing of asylum applications.
The State Secretary for Asylum and Migration has written this to the House of Representatives (in Dutch: Tweede Kamer).
Risk of random violence
It applied in the previous country policy for Yemen that everyone ran such a high risk of becoming a victim of random violence that this reason alone resulted in the granting of asylum. The asylum applications by persons who can demonstrate that they have Yemenite nationality were therefore accelerated and processed on a project basis. They did, after all, almost always have a right to asylum.
Further to a judgment of the European Court of Justice the manner of assessing the risk that someone runs of becoming a victim of random violence has been adjusted. If the extent of violence in the context of an armed conflict is great and frequent in a country or area, but not everyone located in that area runs a realistic risk of become a victim of it, then the IND takes the personal situation into consideration in the individual assessment. This situation now applies to Yemen.
- More explanation: IND will adapt assessment of asylum application to European practice
Risk groups
Several groups in Yemen are designated as risk groups. They as refugees will be eligible for protection in the Netherlands if they individually make it plausible that they are in danger as a result of belonging to that group. This already applied in the previous policy to specific ethnic and religious minorities and LGBTI. This now applies as well to journalists, activists and politicians who openly criticise the authorities, single women and women who fear gender-related violence.
No reassessment
Yemenite persons with asylum status who have asylum residence permits will retain their status. In general the IND is not going to reassess asylum residence permits granted. The security situation in Yemen is still too worrisome for this.