Sudanese protest deportations at Dutch Justice Ministry

On Monday, dozens of Sudanese and activists braved wintery conditions to stage a protest outside the Dutch Ministry of Justice in The Hague in protest against the deportation of Sudanese asylum seeker Samal El Tijani to Khartoum last week. They also demanded a halt to the deportation of three others held by the authorities in Rotterdam prisons.

El Imam Musa, the coordinator of the Sudanese Forum in the Netherlands, said in a memorandum to the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the protesters demanded an immediate halt to the deportation of Sudanese asylum seekers to Khartoum. The Sudanese Abdelmajid Ismail, Anas Bashir Mohamed, and Mohamed Ahmed have been held in a prison in Rotterdam for more than two months

The memorandum criticised the close cooperation between the Dutch Ministry of Justice and the Sudanese Embassy.

He said that asylum seeker Samawal El Tijani, who was deported last week to Khartoum, was immediately detained at Khartoum airport by the security services for hours and is obliged to report to the headquarters of the security apparatus in Khartoum daily. He said the memorandum also demanded an immediate release of the students and activists detained in Khartoum.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a Sudanese activist based in the Netherlands said last week that the Dutch immigration service had rejected the requests for asylum by the four Sudanese refugees, which made them seek asylum in Belgium but from there they were returned to the Netherlands. The Dublin regulation allows European Union countries to return asylum seekers to the first member state they arrived in.

He and fellow activists condemned the step as being “contrary to international human rights laws”.

Eviction

On 17 November, Dutch police forcibly evicted 90 migrants, including 17 Sudanese nationals, from an empty office building in Diemen, which is close to the capital city. A group of about 100 activists gathered at the scene carrying banners in sympathy with the refugees.

A human rights activist told Radio Dabanga that the Dutch immigration authority has closed the files of 17 Sudanese nationals in the Netherlands including Darfuris, as they do not believe they come from Darfur. The refugees said they had proved it, but the immigration authorities doubted their arguments.

Video of anti-deportation demonstration in The Hague on December 11 (Doorbraak.Eu) 

Picture: Radio Dabanga

Picture: Radio Dabanga