Various reasons why minor refugees come to the Netherlands

“I met nice Dutch people when I stayed in Greece and I thought that Holland must be a friendly country then. In Greece the situation was very difficult, so I decided to travel on to the Netherlands.”

At SAMAH, we regularly hear from young people that the reason for seeking asylum in the Netherlands is not infrequently based on chance contacts they make along the way. But tough conditions on the road also cause routes to be shifted and plans to be adjusted.

The complexity of the “choices” young people make is also addressed in yesterday’s knowledge report by the WODC.