Taida won’t wait to be deported from Netherlands

Kosovar schoolgirl Taida Pasic has decided to leave the Netherlands.

Harry Meulenkamp, father of the family Pasic is staying with in the Dutch town of Winterswijk, said on Sunday that she is leaving voluntarily so that she is not deported by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) by Friday.

A court decided on Friday that Pasic is in the Netherlands illegally, as she entered on a tourist visa to finish her secondary schooling in Winterswijk.

Although Pasic can appeal the decision, under the present circumstances she could not stay in the Netherlands awaiting a final determination on her status. Meulenkamp said she may seek a judicial review to ask permission to stay pending a final appeal.

But she needs to know the date of her deportation in order to mount a judicial review. Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk has said Pasic must leave the Netherlands by 28 April at the latest, but it is unclear whether this is the official date sent for deportation.

In any event, she will not wait to be forcefully expelled by IND officials, Meulenkamp said. Pasic was scheduled to meet with the Aliens Police on Monday to discuss her leaving the Netherlands.

The Dutch Education Ministry has agreed to let Pasic sit her final VWO level exams in the Dutch embassy in Sarajevo.

Pasic’s family fled to the Netherlands when she was 12. The Immigration and Integration Service (IND) decided the family could not stay and they were given money to leave voluntarily. Taida returned to complete her schooling and hopes to attend university to study law.

Source: Expatica Netherlands, ANP, 24 April 2006