The new EU immigration pact and its significance for the Netherlands

EU legislation (EU Directive 2013/32, Article 24) requires member states to have procedures in place to identify vulnerable people as part of the asylum procedure. In the Netherlands, this is arranged through the Medical Advice ahead of the asylum interview  and the possibility of a forensic medical assessment.

In September 2024, the European Migration Network together with the Red Cross (EU), presented the paper Practices and challenges in identifying victims of torture and ill-treatment in the context of international and temporary protection. The paper reiterated the great impact that medical issues have on the declarations of survivors of severe violence. iMMO is not without criticism of the current medical advice practice in the Netherlands, but believes that with some modifications it is a very workable tool that can greatly benefit the IND during interviewing and in decisionmaking.

iMMO also attended a meeting on the implementation of the new EU pact organised by Vluchtelingenwerk and the Meijers Commission. The new asylum pact being rolled out at EU level and the Dutch government’s intention to make the asylum procedure more austere – which includes removing medical advice from the procedure, means the coming years will be crucial in ensuring a careful procedure for this group of highly vulnerable people.