Your child may have their own reasons for fleeing and may therefore be entitled to asylum
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If you flee to the Netherlands with your children, you apply for asylum as a family. The IND usually only speaks to the parents. However, it is important that your children’s stories are heard too. This helps to provide a clearer picture of the situation in the country you have fled from.
Children themselves can also be at risk, precisely because they are children
You often flee with the whole family because all family members are at risk. Sometimes you flee because one or both parents are at risk, and the children flee with them. The asylum procedure often focuses on the parent(s)’ story. However, children who flee with their parents may also be at risk themselves.
Children may face exploitation, child marriage, female genital mutilation or being forced to join the army
In some countries, it can be dangerous for children. Your son might be forced to fight as a child soldier. Or criminal organisations might force your son to work for them. Perhaps your family or the village where you live might force your daughter to get married. Or to undergo female genital mutilation.
That is why it is important that the
By talking to the children, the IND will gain a better understanding of why it is dangerous for you in your home country. This will enable the IND to make a more informed decision. In some cases, your child may be granted asylum whilst you are not. In such cases, you may be allowed to stay in the Netherlands because your child is at risk in your home country.
Accompanying children may also have an interview with the IND
The asylum procedure is mainly focused on adults because the IND mainly talks to adults. But children who have fled together with their parents sometimes also have the right to their own interview with the IND. Children do not have to have an interview with the IND if they do not want one. But the IND has to ask the child and the parents.
Children as young as 15 will be asked if they want their own interview with IND
Children are not automatically given an interview. The IND does ask children older than 15 during the 1st interview whether they had their own reasons for fleeing. And whether they also want an interview with the IND about the reasons for their flight.
Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are asked via their parents if they would like their own interview with IND
During the first interview, the IND must also ask the parents of children aged between 12 and 15 whether those children wish to be interviewed. Children aged 12 to 15 who do not have their own grounds for asylum must also be given the opportunity to tell their story.
If the IND does not ask the parents about this during the first interview, but the child does wish to have an interview, this can still be communicated to the IND via the lawyer at the start of the asylum procedure. For children aged between 12 and 15, this does not usually involve a proper interview with an IND official. Children are usually given the opportunity to write down what they wish to say.