The Hague: A top Dutch court said Wednesday that the government could stop its support for foreigners living in Ukraine who fled after Russia's invasion, paving the way for their deportation.
In its ruling, the Council of State (RVS), the country's highest administrative court, said the government's plan to end temporary asylum for the group of around 1,700 people could be implemented.
Many of the refugees hailed from places including Algeria, Turkey and Pakistan and were working or studying in Ukraine at the time of Russia's invasion in February 2022.
Rights and refugee advocates have criticised the move to expel the so-called "third country nationals".
But the court "ruled today that the temporary protection for third-country nationals in Ukraine can end", the Hague-based court said in a statement.
Government support for this group "can end earlier than for other Ukrainians, stateless persons and third country nationals with a permanent Ukrainian residency permit," who are still temporarily being sheltered in the Netherlands, the statement said.
The ruling came after previous Dutch government plans to halt the protection for non-Ukrainian nationals ran into legal obstacles including several lawsuits.
The RVS had already ruled in January 2024 that temporary asylum for the group could end on March 4, 2024, before referring the matter to the European Court of Justice for a legal opinion.
In December, the ECJ confirmed that EU countries could end temporary residency for third-country nationals before other Ukrainian citizens, those with permanent residency status and stateless persons.
"The reason for this is because EU member countries are not obligated to protect this group, although they may choose do so," said Pieter-Bas Beekman, an RVS spokesman.
"The Council of State today confirms the decision by the European Court of Justice, which means that from March 4 last year, protection for third-country residents have ended in the Netherlands," he said.
There are currently around 118,000 registered Ukrainian refugees in total in the Netherlands, according to the latest government figures.
