Europese Commissie voor economische, sociale en culturele rechten veroordeelt het beleid van de Nederlandse overheid inzake ongedocumenteerde migranten
Op 23 juni maakte de CESCR zijn aanbevelingen (concluding observations) openbaar van de 6e periodieke review van Nederland. Zoals al eerder heeft de CESCR zijn zorg uitgesproken over de wijze waarop de Nederlandse overheid omgaat met migranten zonder documenten en uitgeprocedeerde asielzoekers. Nederland handelt in strijd met de internationale verdragen die zij mede heeft ondertekend.
Hieronder vindt u de passages van het rapport van de CESCR m.b.t. de juridische afdwingbaarheid van het Internationaal Verdrag inzake Economische, Sociale en Culturele Rechten (zie: http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBV0001016/1979-03-11) en de tekortschietende opvang van ongedocumenteerde migranten/afgewezen asielzoekers.
Undocumented migrants
The Committee is concerned that restrictive provisions in, inter alia, the Benefit Entitlement Act, which links access to housing, education and welfare benefits to a legal residency status, have contributed to a precarious situation for undocumented migrants and rejected asylum-seekers in the State party. The Committee is further concerned that access to food, water and housing are not guaranteed under this Act. The Committee further notes with concern that the Government has made access to housing for undocumented migrants conditional upon a “demonstrated willingness to return to the country of origin” and that it has threatened to sanction municipalities that continue to provide shelter to undocumented migrants (arts. 2 and 11).
Reiterating its previous recommendation (E/C.12/NLD/6, para 130), the Committee reminds the State Party of its obligation to ensure that all persons in its jurisdiction enjoy the minimum essential levels of each of the rights in the Covenant, including the rights to food, housing, health, water and sanitation. The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Refrain from making access to food, water and to housing conditional on an individual’s willingness to return to his or her country of origin; (b) Put in place a comprehensive strategy to ensure that everyone, including undocumented migrants, enjoy minimum essential levels of all Covenant rights and ensure it is supported by adequate funding. The Committee reminds the State party of its Statement on the Duties of States towards Refugees and Migrants under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2017/1) and its General Comment no. 20 (2009) regarding non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights.
Justiciability of the Covenant
The Committee is concerned that although international treaties that are binding on all persons prevail over domestic legislation in the Constitution of the Netherlands (arts 93 and 94), the State party has taken the view that in general the provisions of the Covenant are not binding on all persons and that they are of a programmatic nature and therefore not justiciable. The Committee remains concerned that the Covenant does not play a meaningful role in the legislative or policy formulation process of the State party and that major reforms in the field of social services have been adopted without taking the Covenant into account (art. 2).
Recalling its previous recommendation (E/C.12/NDL/CO/4-5 para. 6) the Committee urges the State party to fully incorporate the Covenant rights into its domestic legal order and to ensure their application in the legislative and policy formulation process. In this context, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant.
