Dutch government declares Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago safe for refugees
Brazil and the Caribbean island nation Trinidad and Tobago have been declared safe countries for refugees by the Dutch government.
The latest revision to the list means asylum applications from those countries can be processed and rejected more quickly, though junior justice minister Klaas Dijkhoff said individual cases involving LGBT applicants still deserved special attention.
Similar rules apply to Jamaica, which is considered generally safe but gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens remain at risk of persecution.
Three other countries in South America and the Caribbean – Colombia, Honduras and Cuba – have been added to the list of unsafe countries.
A country is deemed to be safe if the justice ministry decides that its people are not at risk of being exposed to torture, inhuman treatment or persecution for reasons such as race, religion and sexuality.
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