Dutch court voids language test for migrants seeking to join relatives already in Netherlands

By ANRICA DEB | Associated Press Writer

5:22 PM EDT, July 18, 2008

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) _ A Dutch court punched a hole in toughened immigration restrictions, ruling an illiterate Moroccan woman cannot be required to pass a Dutch language test to join her husband in the Netherlands.

The order dismayed politicians who have sought to curb immigration from non-Western countries and they vowed Friday to fix the law to cover the loophole exposed by the Amsterdam District Court.

On the other side, the ruling was applauded by rights activists who say the government should scrap the requirement entirely, which they say is discriminatory and violates international human rights law.

Faced with public outrage over Islamic radicalization and the religion-motivated murder of a Dutch filmmaker, parliament enacted a tough law in 2005 requiring immigrants to pass an exam on the Dutch language and culture before they are granted a visa.

The Amsterdam court, however, found the test requirement was omitted from a clause referring to family reunification and ruled in favor of an unidentified North African woman who had been rejected for a visa.

Even with the ruling, the law will require her to pass another integration test within 3½ years to maintain residency in the Netherlands.

Human rights groups have denounced the culture requirement because it applies only to immigrants from Third World nations, such as Turkey, Morocco, India and China. Family members from industrial countries like the U.S., Japan and Australia are exempt.

"It discriminates on its face and in its effects, and it unduly restricts the right to family reunification and the right to have a family," said Veronika Szente Goldston, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch.

The Christian Democrat Alliance, the largest party in the governing coalition, said it was determined to overturn the ruling, either through a judicial appeal or new legislation.

"We think that when you start here, you have to know something about the values over here," said Chantal van den Berg, a party spokeswoman.

According to figures from the Immigration Ministry, roughly 10 percent of the country's 16.6 million people have non-Western immigrant backgrounds. About 42 percent of those 1.7 million residents were born in the Netherlands.