Child-friendly reception of refugees in the Netherlands

The fire in camp Moria drew attention to the deeply dire conditions structurally faced by refugees in Europe. Within the camps, children face systematic human rights violations and risk of exploitation and sexual abuse. In a webinar, the Netherlands chapter of the International Commission of Jurists, NJCM, focused specifically on these children. Barbara Oomen contributed by discussing the legal and moral obligations of the Netherlands towards these children and the way in which local authorities seek to pressurize the Dutch government to comply with its human rights obligations. She also discussed Sara Miellet’s research on the different motivations put forward by municipalities, from humanitarian to human rights reasoning. The whole webinar can be viewed here.