Some 90 third-country nationals who fled to the Netherlands from Ukraine when Russia invaded have been given leave to remain in refugee accommodation in The Hague while the European Court of Justice considers their position.

On Tuesday the Netherlands’ highest court, the Council of State, said six third-country nationals could wait for the outcome of a request to the European Court of Justice for its opinion.

Asylum minister Eric van der Burg told local councils they can continue evicting people, because the EU court was only being asked about the six Amsterdam refugees.

However, judges in The Hague have now said the 90 people in The Hague can also wait, adding to the legal chaos. A number of local authorities have also opted to wait for the EU court to have its say before proceeding with evictions.

Some 2,500 third-party nationals, often students, workers or people married to Ukrainians, are in the Netherlands. However, the Council of State said in January that they could be evicted from their accommodation this month and sent back to their country of origin.

This was before a string of conflicting local court verdicts which prompted Amsterdam to take the issue to Europe.