A court in the Netherlands rules that family members of refugees must receive visas

AMSTERDAM, 30 Dec. (DPA/EP) –

A court in the Netherlands has ruled that the country’s authorities must allow refugee family members to enter the country, according to international law on family reunification.

In this sense, the court, based in The Hague, has indicated that the interest of families must be valued above the interest of the State, as confirmed this Thursday.

This ruling is the fourth court ruling to contravene Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s current policy that relatives of refugees with legal residency status can only receive a visa in the country after 15 months or if they prove who have found a home.

Several refugees had successfully filed lawsuits against the measure, and judges have ruled that Rutte’s policy — which cited a shortage of refugee accommodation as a reason for pushing it — violates national law and international conventions.

The government had requested a precautionary measure against these sentences, requesting that they be suspended until the final decision of the administrative court in the dispute, scheduled for January. But the court denied the request.