Defence for Children International considers the deportation of children who have spent years in the Netherlands and who are rooted in the Dutch society not in the best interest of the child and it is therefore a violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). A group of children who have been in the Netherlands for more than five years but who do not have a residence permit have organized themselves in a society. This society is called: We Want to Stay. Together with Defence for Children International, they have taken legal action against the Dutch state.

In the summons, three issues are being highlighted. In the first place, the state of the Netherlands violates children’s rights by deporting children that are rooted in the Netherlands. The deportation will cause a fracture in the development of these vulnerable children. This causes damages to the children. This conclusion is, amongst others, based on research by remedial educationalists Kalverboer and Zijlstra. They have researched the damage children sustain when they are being forcibly deported after a long term stay in the Netherlands.

Secondly, once the children are denied a residence permit, it is extremely difficult for them to obtain certain basic facilities, such as health care, housing and education. Some children without a residence permit are in need of special care, because they have physical or psychological problems, or because they are traumatised by war or by fleeing their country of origin. Also the extra care is only sparsely available for children without a residence permit.

Finally, these children run the risk of being put in detention because of their immigration status. This violates their right to freedom, but also their right to education and their right to recreation.
The judge has not put We Want to Stay and Defence for Children in their right. The judge is of the opinion that the State Secretary can always use her discretionary powers in very poignant cases. The judge therefore considers it unnecessary to insert a special rule in the Immigration Law for children who have been in the Netherlands for a very long time.

We Want to Stay and Defence for Children International have lodged an appeal against this judgement.

This test case is sponsored by Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland and Pekoenja.