Despite rigid screening measures, dozens people linked to the Syrian regime under Bashar Al-Assad applied for asylum in the Netherlands, a recent survey carried out among Syrian refugees in the Netherlands has found.
The survey was carried out by De Trouw and Argos among Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in the country, as well as experts and relevant organisations. Syrians currently form the largest group of asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
“There are more than rumours about perpetrators of all kinds, including in the Netherlands,” Ugur Üngör, professor at the Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD), stated. According to his estimations, between 50 and 100 of Assad’s associates are currently in the Netherlands.
Several torture victims surveyed said they recognised their tormentors in public, many former jailers in Syria’s secret service prisons.
Many refugees have taken matters into their own hands and are coordinating their efforts to locate such individuals tied to the Syrian regime, including via social media.
However, Syrians also call on the Dutch government to improve its screening mechanisms.
“There needs to be more cooperation between the Dutch government and local organisations,” Mazen Darwish, a Syrian lawyer and human rights activist, told NOS. He was also tortured before fleeing Syria.
”We really need a long-term strategy for this,” he added.
Just last month, two Syrian refugees were arrested in the Netherlands for allegedly perpetrating war crimes during the civil war. One was accused of assistance in torturing civilians, while the other was a security official for the Islamic State (IS).
(Benedikt Stöckl | EURACTIV.com)
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