Unaccompanied refugees also need help on their eighteenth birthday, argue the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children. Now they often don’t and they get into trouble.

Single refugees are left to their own devices when they turn eighteen. According to the law, they are then of age and then they lose reception and guidance. The Netherlands too often leaves these young refugees alone, conclude the National Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children in a new study published on Wednesday.

The result: these problems can be exceeded. The risk of financial difficulties is high, the study shows. This is because unaccompanied minors often look for unskilled work and not for training. If they do, they will soon quit. For example, a youth counselor says in the report that 90 percent of young refugees drop out of MBO in his municipality.

Debt counseling, addiction care from the police station

The ombudsmen are concerned about this vulnerable group of young people. “These are young people with residency status, they will have Dutch citizenship. It is important that we do not lose them along the way because we do not guide them properly. You don’t want these young people in debt counseling, addiction care or the police station,” says Children’s Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer.

The number of children who fled to the Netherlands alone increased significantly last year. In 2021 there were 2106. A year earlier, there were still 986 children. The children mainly come from Syria and Eritrea and are sixteen and seventeen years old when they arrive here.

In the first instances, a lot has been arranged for unaccompanied minors. They are assigned a guardianship through the youth protection institution Nidos and there is shelter, in a family or in a residential group with guidance. But at least eighteen, and therefore of age, all that help will lapse and the young beneficiaries have to work on their own.

For example, these UMAs are unable to adapt to the Dutch language and culture, according to the quick survey for which 21 young refugees from Syria and Eritrea were interviewed. We also spoke with counselors from six different municipalities, organizations that help these refugees and with all the ministries involved.

Supporting family financially

The Netherlands are too eighteen-year-old refugees who have been here for a few years. Living independently, studying while working, fixed costs, allowances, insurance and municipalities that have varying policies. And if something goes wrong, the tax authorities of a municipality are focused on punishment instead of help or leniency. Meanwhile, families abroad are financially supported and the young refugee often feels responsible for the family reunification procedure.

According to the ombudsmen, the solution is simple: provide guidance and (if necessary) care for current and future UMAs up to the age of 21. Kalverboer: “That insight is already available in other areas, such as juvenile criminal law, which currently extends to the age of 23, and youth care to which young people up to the age of 21 can rely if necessary.”

Municipalities do have pots for adult single status holders, but it varies per municipality whether someone gets help or not. In addition, help is often available on request, as refugees from other uses are not used to asking, according to experts. With all its consequences.

In order to arrange this, one ministry must be responsible for the care of unaccompanied minors, instead of the current five ministries, the ombudsmen advise. Kalverboer: “Nobody takes responsibility and that is also an ordinary question of money. We believe that you should help these young people, if they want to, longer to allow them to mature properly.”

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