The Hague – Around 180 members of the Eritrean community in the Netherlands held a demonstration in support of the Dutch government. With the demonstration, the organisers wanted to express gratitude for the actions of the Dutch government, including declaring head of the Eritrean embassy office ‘persona non grata’; they also wanted to show that the fight for justice and freedom is not yet over.
In an episode of Dutch investigative radio programme Argos, the matter of controversial country reports, which are used in asylum decisions, was raised. Anonymous sources, such as those used in reports on Afghanistan and Eritrea, have a large impact on the content of the important reports, determining (possible) return of asylum seekers. In 2017, The Netherlands made a country report on Eritrea, which received criticism for its tone, which was more positive than the 2016 report. Prof. Mirjam van Reisen explains this criticism on the Dutch radio programme Argos on NPO radio 1.
After paying a visit to a detention centre in Libya, the Dutch minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sigrid Kaag, has declared that the conditions are inhumane. She calls for the closure of the detention centres as soon as possible. She is reported to be the first EU policy maker to openly state this. She continues that alternatives such as open reception centres should be created.