LUANDA, 25/09/03 - Immigration Minister Verdonk opened a relief center for underage asylum seekers in Angola yesterday. The center is designed for Angolan youngsters who do not qualify for a residence permit in the Netherlands.

The Mulemba relief center, as it is called, is situated just outside the capital Luanda and financed by the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation. Up to the present, it was often impossible for the Netherlands to send back underage asylum seekers, since there was no adequate relief in the country of origin. The opening of Mulemba means that this is now possible.

Since June 2001, the Netherlands has been pursuing a policy aimed at the return of Angolan asylum seekers who did not qualify for residence permits. At the beginning of the year, the African country agreed to take back Angolans and is since cooperating in ascertaining identities and issuing travel documents. In addition to Angola, the Netherlands has also entered into an agreement with China, while negotiations with Guinea are still ongoing.

During the past years, a large number of Angolans came to the Netherlands. This number has decreased since the ending of the lengthy civil war in August 2002. Between January and August, 274 adults and 111 youngsters from Angola applied for asylum in the Netherlands, compared to 1891 and 854 respectively during the whole of last year. At present, 400 Angolan asylum seekers have had their applications for asylum rejected and can thus be sent back.