The right-wing Dutch government is pressing ahead with its decision not to bring the remaining Afghans who worked for the army during the UN mission in Afghanistan back to the Netherlands.

The entire opposition, with the exception of one-person party JA1, called on ministers to rethink their plans during a debate on Thursday night, describing the decision as “signing a death sentence” and “breaking a promise”.

Last week ministers reversed a decision to grant asylum to a group of 145 Afghan security guards who were working for the Dutch army. The staff were not eligible for asylum immediately after the evacuation of Afghanistan in August 2021 because they were working for external agencies rather than directly for the Dutch government.

The previous cabinet agreed to grant asylum to them and their families. But now foreign affairs minister Caspar Veldkamp, defence minister Ruben Brekelmans and asylum minister Marjolein Faber said in a letter to parliament that they had made a “different assessment” of the circumstances.

They now say some 900 guards and their families could be eligible for asylum, which means as many as 4,500 people in total. Not only is the group too big, but it will be too expensive to take care of them and too difficult to establish where they are now, the ministers said.

Altogether the Dutch government flew 1,860 people out of Afghanistan in the initial phase of the evacuation in August 2021, with another 2,810 following later.

The issue is also dividing the right-wing government with coalition party NSC describing it as “very complicated”. NSC MP Isa Kahraman said during the debate that the financial aspects of the repatriation project “do not matter” and called for research to identify people living in “heartbreaking situations”.

Party leader Pieter Omtzigt, currently on sick leave, was a major campaigner for the rights of Afghans who worked for the Dutch.

The VVD and PVV, however, are standing firm. “We don’t want any more foreigners in the Netherlands,” said far-right parliamentarian Raymond de Roon.

The ministers have not yet responded to the criticism because the debate was halted to give MPs more time to read the relevant documents. However, they have said that they do not intend to change their minds, broadcaster NOS reported.

Court case

The Netherlands is one of four countries that announced at the UN in New York last month they were bringing a case against Afghanistan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague for violating women’s rights. Veldkamp described the situation of women and girls in the country as “heartbreaking”.

But the Netherlands has also begun rejecting asylum claims from Afghan women under new, tougher rules on proving risk.