THE HAGUE, 13/02/03 - Caretaker Aliens Minister Hilbrand Nawijn is working on "A rule" in which thousands of asylum seekers who have been in the Netherlands for at least five years have a chance of obtaining a permanent residence permit. He was unable to say yesterday how many asylum seekers would be allowed to stay.

The Lower House had demanded clarification of Nawijn's position. Both the minister and his party, the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), had suggested in the media on Tuesday evening that they were aiming for a general amnesty for 5,000 to 7,000 asylum seekers. Nawijn reported yesterday that he had no such measure in mind. He intends to judge individual cases, but as this involves "A fairly large number of people," he considers a special ruling desirable.

Nawijn admitted that the measure would affect the 5,000 to 7,000 people who have been in the country for five years or more. However, only 'heart-rending cases' would be considered. The asylum seekers concerned must also speak reasonable Dutch, lack a criminal record and come from a country with a recent history of human rights violations, the minister explained. He will detail further criteria in a letter next week, after which the Lower House will discuss the matter further.

Nawijn said he had already put his ideas to the cabinet and would discuss them with his fellow ministers again tomorrow. The conservatives (VVD) and Christian democrats (CDA) were unpleasantly surprised by the plan. However, together with the left-wing opposition, fellow coalition party LPF forms a narrow House majority backing Nawijn. The LPF maintained the measure is in line with the philosophies of its assassinated leader Pim Fortuyn, who considered the authorities should deal with applications more quickly.