THE HAGUE - The general security situation in Venezuela is worrying, but not such that the Dutch State Secretary for Justice and Security should grant asylum to every Venezuelan who requests it. Nor does he have to offer protection to all political opponents. This is what the Council of State ruled today in two judgments about Venezuelans in the Netherlands.
According to the Council, the humanitarian situation is not everywhere so bad that no one can return to the country. The Council of State calls the fact that the State Secretary has only designated political opponents of Maduro's regime as a risk group 'reasonable'. However, the highest administrative court does state that the State Secretary must always fully assess each individual case.
One of the two cases is about a woman who came to the Netherlands from the South American country with her daughter. The woman has protested against the government of President Nicolás Maduro and says she has been threatened because of this. In the other case, a Venezuelan couple refused to apply for a so-called 'Carnet de la Patria' or 'Fatherland card', a kind of voucher that gives Venezuelans access to food parcels, pensions, medicines and petrol. After the refusal, they say they are seen as political opponents of Maduro's government.