100 Surinamese who have been living in the Netherlands since the 1980s or 1990s but do not have a passport have applied for residence status.
They were born before 1975, before Suriname’s independence and thus had Dutch nationality at that time, but they involuntarily lost it, as emphasized by their lawyer in de Volkskrant SchengenVisaInfo reports.
According to the NOS report, there are nearly 800 Surinamese citizens without legal documentation in the Dutch territory who reached this country during the 1980s or 1990s and have been living there in an unlawful way since then. Their ages range from 48 to over 80 years old.
They were required to apply for a Dutch passport within five years after Suriname’s independence. However, not everyone was aware of this requirement or able to fulfill it, with some of them being very young by that time.
Their lawyer, Eva Bezem in the NOS Radio 1 Journal said that the consequences of this are major after they have no health insurance, no home, they cannot do paid work, and they have no rights.
Surinamese nationals in the Netherlands live in fear that they risk ending up in prison. Layer said that this is a very difficult situation for their children and grandchildren as well.
You’ll only have one mother who you have to watch all the time to make sure there isn’t an officer walking around, who will soon ask for her passport.
Some of the undocumented Surinamese rely on their Dutch passport-holding children and grandchildren financially, which, according to Bezem, makes them feel ashamed.
Since they have families and jobs in the Netherlands, they have no reason to return to Suriname.
Bezem said that since they can’t work without a passport, a large number of them do volunteer. She said that all the people she represents in this case are Dutch, but without holding a passport.
Imagine what an asset it would be to the labor market if they were allowed to work. If you have a whole group ready that is already fully integrated in the Netherlands.
Over 58,000 Undocumented Migrants in the Netherlands
More than 58,000 people are estimated to live in the Netherlands without holding valid documents. Besides, some of them have been in the country for decades.
Researchers classify failed asylum seekers who stay in the Netherlands and take illegal jobs into two “adventurers” and “investors,” usually from Asia or South America, who accept illegal jobs in order to send money back to their families.
