THE HAGUE, 30/08/03 - A group of slightly over 2,000 asylum-seekers will be eligible for a residence permit within the framework of the one-off ruling agreed in the coalition manifesto, the cabinet decided on Friday.

The scheme applies to asylum-seekers that have been in the Netherlands for over five years and are still awaiting the definitive result of their application. Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk has however attached a number of conditions to the once-only measure. For example, applicants cannot have a criminal record and must have been continuously living in the Netherlands during the procedure. Most of the 7,000 applicants will be knocked out as a result and will have to leave the country immediately.

The conservatives (VVD) and Christian democrats (CDA) backed Verdonk's proposal, which stems from a measure announced by her predecessor, the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party's Hilbrand Nawijn. It is known that the center-left coalition party (D66) would prefer a more flexible measure. The Labour (PvdA), socialist (SP), leftwing Green (GroenLinks) and ChristenUnie opposition parties also wanted a more generous scheme.