Dutch court allows two asylum seekers to be transferred to Italy

The District Court of The Hague, sitting in Haarlem, ruled in two separate cases that the Dutch asylum minister could transfer the applicants to Italy rather than examine their claims in the Netherlands. Both had entered Europe through Italy before travelling onwards to the Netherlands.

One case concerns a woman from Eritrea who applied for asylum in July; the other involves a man who arrived in the Netherlands in early August, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

The applicants argued that problems in Italy’s reception system put them at real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment. They said the existence of theoretical capacity did not mean places were available or accessible, and noted that Italy had not reserved accommodation for people transferred back from other EU countries.

The court said the applicants had not sufficiently demonstrated that they could not be returned. It pointed to Italian government figures and recent reports from EU bodies, which it said showed enough reception capacity. The absence of reserved places did not mean there would be no room for returnees, it added.

The decisions concern these two applicants, not all transfers to Italy. In September, judges in Utrecht ruled in three other cases that the minister had not shown that the applicants could obtain shelter, food and running water in Italy. They ordered their asylum applications to be reassessed.

ANP reports that asylum minister Bart van den Brink has appealed against earlier rulings blocking transfers. The two applicants in Tuesday’s cases can also challenge the decisions.