The Dutch Council of State ruled on March 25 that asylum claims filed by people linked to the Gülen movement must be assessed on a stricter, case-by-case basis but said Dutch authorities cannot dismiss risks tied to family members’ profiles or applicants’ activities abroad, Turkish Minute reported.
In a set of rulings, the Netherlands’ highest administrative court upheld the legality of a revised asylum policy that took effect on December 1, 2023. The policy kept Gülen followers in a recognized risk group but ended a looser approach under which relatively limited evidence more often led to protection.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle. He dismissed the probes as a Gülenist conspiracy and later designated the movement a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after a coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
The court said applicants linked to the movement may still qualify for asylum because they can face persecution in Turkey. It also said they do not necessarily need extensive proof, as limited but credible indications may still be enough.
At the same time, the court said Dutch authorities are allowed to apply a stricter individual assessment, citing official country reports that indicate a decline in the intensity of criminal prosecutions of people accused of Gülen links in Turkey.
But the court also pushed back against parts of the government’s reasoning in individual cases.
In one ruling it said authorities had too narrowly argued that only relatives of high-ranking Gülen followers face danger. The court said official sources show that family members of other alleged followers can also face scrutiny and that the role of a parent or close relative must be examined carefully when assessing risk.
The court also said activities outside Turkey should not be brushed aside. It pointed to evidence that Turkish authorities monitor the Gülen movement beyond Turkey’s borders and said claims involving volunteer work, associations or surveillance abroad require closer examination.
According to the latest figures from the Justice Ministry, more than 126,000 people have been convicted for alleged links to the movement since 2016, with 11,085 still in prison. Legal proceedings are ongoing for over 24,000 individuals, while another 58,000 remain under active investigation nearly a decade later.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
