http://www.ecre.org/refugeestories/taxonomy/term/245/0 The number of asylum applications in the Netherlands has been increasing since 2004. Most asylum seekers come from Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan, with a sharp rise in the number of applications from Colombia. In 2005, the Dutch authorities made 2,500 requests to transfer asylum seekers to other Member States under the Dublin system and itself received 2,729 requests. en http://www.ecre.org/refugeestories/page/mahdi <div class="field field-type-text field-field-summary"><h3 class="field-label">Summary</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><p>Mahdi was tortured by Iran&#39;s secret police and fled to the Netherlands in 2000. His asylum application was rejected and in fear of being sent back to Iran, he fled to Denmark. He has since been returned to the Netherlands and is now living without status. </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-text field-field-body"><h3 class="field-label">Body</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><p align="justify"><img border="0" vspace="5" align="left" width="100" src="/images/templates/mahdi_01.jpg" hspace="5" alt="Natalia Partyka/PHO" height="94" style="width: 100px; height: 94px" title="Natalia Partyka/PHO" />Mahdi fled Iran after being tortured by the government security services. He reported to the Dutch immigration officials on arrival in Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. He had no expectations other than that his story of persecution would receive a fair hearing by the Dutch immigration authorities. </p> <p align="justify"><i>&quot;I was literally destroyed, fresh scar, bad health.&quot;</i> </p> <p align="justify">Six years later, Mahdi is without status, having lodged three asylum applications in the Netherlands. Following the failure of his final appeal, Mahdi fled to Denmark to avoid expulsion. There, he applied for asylum and was undergoing psychiatric care when he was returned to the Netherlands under the Dublin Regulation. </p> <p align="justify">Mahdi’s desperate search for protection exposes the risk of fast tracking the applications of vulnerable asylum seekers. </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links"><h3 class="field-label">Links 1</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="http://www.ecre.org/topics/asylum_procedures" target="_blank">asylum porcedures</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-2"><h3 class="field-label">Links 2</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="http://www.ecre.org/topics/dublin_ii">ECRE on Dublin</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-3"><h3 class="field-label">Links 3</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32003R0343:EN:NOT">Dublin Regulation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-4"><h3 class="field-label">Links 4</h3><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-5"><h3 class="field-label">Links 5</h3><div class="field-items"></div></div> Asylum Procedures Middle East Netherlands The Dublin system Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:22:05 +0000 editor 29 at http://www.ecre.org/refugeestories http://www.ecre.org/refugeestories/page/fema <div class="field field-type-text field-field-summary"><h3 class="field-label">Summary</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><p>Fema arrived in the Netherlands in 1998 with her husband and three children, fleeing persecution in Sudan. The family endured a long asylum procedure and were finally granted refugee status in 2003.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-text field-field-body"><h3 class="field-label">Body</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><p align="justify"><img border="0" vspace="5" align="left" width="100" src="/images/templates/fema_01.jpg" hspace="5" alt="Natalia Partyka" height="93" style="width: 100px; height: 93px" title="Natalia Partyka" />Fema fled Sudan with her husband and three children for a safer life in the Netherlands. For five years she confronted the disbelief of the immigration authorities. During this time the family moved seven times between different reception centres.</p> <p>Fema talks about the agonising wait for her refugee status and the stress of trying to convince the Dutch authorities of the truth of her story.</p> <p><em>&quot;We - my children and my husband - had to flee our country because of security reasons. But what happened here was even worse. We had to wait for five years, we moved five times with our children...they had to leave school. Nobody wanted to believe us.&quot;</em></p> <p></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links"><h3 class="field-label">Links 1</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="http://www.ecre.org/topics/asylum_procedures" target="_blank">asylum procedures</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-2"><h3 class="field-label">Links 2</h3><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="http://www.ecre.org/resources/responses_recommendations/291">reception standards</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-3"><h3 class="field-label">Links 3</h3><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-4"><h3 class="field-label">Links 4</h3><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-type-link field-field-links-5"><h3 class="field-label">Links 5</h3><div class="field-items"></div></div> Africa Asylum Procedures Netherlands Reception and Integration Fri, 27 Oct 2006 10:31:59 +0000 Admin 26 at http://www.ecre.org/refugeestories