29 July 2004
AMSTERDAM — Two Somali asylum seekers deported from the Netherlands were murdered in the eastern African nation soon after their return to their home country, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
The two were among the 26,000 asylum seekers that the Dutch government intends to deport in the coming period. They were not among the 2,300 long-term asylum seekers issued with a residence permit under an amnesty earlier this year.
Amnesty International observer Martin Hill said Mohamed Yahya — who was a member of a persecuted ethnic minority in Somalia — was deported in May and murdered several days later, Dutch news agency ANP reported.
Another rejected Somali asylum seeker, Abdinassir Abdulatif, was also deported in May. He was then kidnapped and murdered on the street in June.
Both men were allegedly killed by street robbers, who reportedly saw them as easy targets because they came from a foreign country and there would be no reprisals from ethnic clan members.
Amnesty said the killings highlight the shortcomings of Dutch asylum policy, claiming that the background of the two Somalis was not sufficiently examined during the process of expulsion, Radio Netherlands reported.
Hill said the Dutch government should not deport vulnerable ethnic minorities that are discriminated against and persecuted in Somalia, Dutch public news service NOS reported.
But a spokesman from the Dutch Justice Ministry said there could be no relationship established between the deaths and the Dutch deportation policy.
The Netherlands decided at the start of June to temporarily suspend deportations of a specific group of rejected Somali asylum seekers.
The decision applies to Somali asylum seekers who must return to the north of the nation and are members of an ethnic minority who do not have family or community links. The temporary stay of deportations will apply for a maximum of 12 months.
The government's decision was prompted by a ruling in the Council of State, which advises the government on its legislation. The council ruling was prompted after three asylum seekers lodged legal objections against their looming deportation on concerns over the security situation in Somalia.
[Copyright Expatica News 2004]