Social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher is to start talks with local councils to ensure mosque-run boarding houses for children meet the same minimum standards as other boarding schools.

MPs want the requirements to be covered by new laws, but the minister warns this will take at least a year to achieve. By contrast, a formal agreement will be more simple to put together, the minister said.

The NRC reported in November that several hundred children live in mosque-run homes, although one researcher said there could be up to 3,000. A number of the boarding houses are illegal while others do not meet safety standards, the paper said.

Earlier stories
Education ministry wants answers on mosque-run boarding houses