Case: Palestinian now illegally in the Netherlands When Amin Kassir was a baby in 1967, his parents had to flee from Gaza, part of what is now known as the “occupied Palestinian territories”. He came to the Netherlands at the end of the 1980s. For some time, he had legal residence in the Netherlands, when he was married to a Dutch woman. However, the marriage broke down and Amin lost his residence permit. He became illegal. In addition, he committed a criminal offence. As a result, he was declared undesirable. His continued stay in the Netherlands is now in itself punishable by law. Yet, as a Palestinian, there is no country that will give him a travel document. The Palestinian Authority only issues passports to residents of the Occupied Territories. Indeed, in a recent judgment, the Court of Utrecht took as a starting point that it was not disputed that Amin is stateless. Even if he had a travel document, it is unlikely that he would be allowed to return to the Occupied Territories, as the borders are controlled not by the Palestinian Authority but by Israel. The Dutch Repatriation and Departure Service put him on a plane to various other countries in the Middle East, to see if any of them would allow him entry, but no country complied. So Amin remains in The Netherlands and lives in an emergency shelter, which was only made available to him because of his serious medical problems. in the Netherlands 39