(Dutch News) Asylum minister Marjolein Faber has rejected a plan by MPs to allow Syrians in the Netherlands to return home temporarily without losing their asylum status.
Parliament voted for the temporary measure to give Syrians the chance to visit their homeland following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship and decide if it was safe enough to live there again.
Opposition group GroenLinks-PvdA secured the support of other parties, including coalition party NSC, for a motion calling on the cabinet to let Syrians make short visits home to assess the situation.
A similar ruling was introduced in the 1990s for Bosnian refugees who were considering returning home following the wars in the former Yugoslav countries.
