Almost 2,000 people who fled Ukraine to the Netherlands risk deportation

As many as 1,700 non-Ukrainians who have fled to the Netherlands since the Ukraine conflict erupted may be deported after April 1, according to EUObserver.

The measure may affect individuals, including students, who held temporary residence permits in Ukraine or temporary protection in the Netherlands. In January 2023, the country’s highest administrative court canceled a government decision to terminate the protection of third-country nationals. Also, the court ruled that the extension of the protection until March 2025 agreed by the European Union does not apply to third-country nationals who held a temporary residence permit in the former Soviet republic. These individuals face deportation after April 1, the media outlet said.

Lotte van Diepen, a lawyer at a Dutch law firm that specializes in immigration law, dismissed the interpretation of the Dutch court to cancel the protection for non-Ukrainians one year earlier than stated in the decision by the EU Council as "incorrect." The extension of temporary protection doesn't differentiate between "categories of people suitable to enjoy the protection," the lawyer argued.