NCJ Number
217940
Date Published
2006
Length
247 pages
Annotation
This report examines how the asylum system has prepared itself for the introduction of the new Aliens Act 2000 and particularly the new statutory mechanisms and the context in which that preparation for the introduction has taken place.
Abstract
The Netherlands’ Aliens Act 2000 was enacted to shorten asylum proceedings and to improve the quality of asylum decisions. To achieve these aims, a number of new statutory mechanisms were incorporated into the Act. Some months after the introduction of the Aliens Act 2000, the growth in numbers of asylum seekers began to give way to a reduction which continued at a strong rate. This reduction had a substantial influence on the organizations operating in the asylum field. With the reduction, staffing shortages of interpreters and legal assistance staff began disappearing. In addition, it has been said that the most important of the new mechanisms under the Alien Act 2000 have actually been applied in asylum practice. Some of these mechanisms are playing a part in every asylum procedure. This is the case with the intention procedure, the sequential status system, the wider-ranging decision, and the suspensive operation of the appeal against a decision taken in the normal asylum procedure. There is relatively widespread approval in the asylum field for the statutory basis of the repatriation (sending someone back to his/her country of birth) moratorium and the place for new facts and circumstances in judicial assessment which is actually happening in practice. There are criticisms of the new mechanisms primarily from legal assistance providers and the Dutch Council for Refugees. It appears though from the comments that the introduction and implementation of the Aliens Act 2000 by the organizations in the asylum field is and will be influenced by many internal and external factors.