Fewer children placed under guardianship

On 31 December 2002 15.4 thousand children in the Netherlands had been placed under guardianship. 10.4 thousand of these children are single under-aged asylumseekers. There were 2 thousand fewer children under guardianship than in 2001.

Children under guardianship

Children under guardianship

Fewer under-aged asylumseekers

The decrease in the number of children under guardianship in 2002 was caused by a decrease in the number of single under-aged asylumseekers. In 2001 the number of these young asylumseekers rose by 800, in 2002 it fell by 2.2 thousand. This is possibly a consequence of the new immigration law which came into effect in 2001.

The number of other children under guardianship has been stable for years now around 5 thousand.

More boys than girls among asylumseekers

On 31 December 2002 the group of under-aged single asylumseekers consisted of 6.9 thousand boys and 3.5 thousand girls. Among the other children under guardianship there are about just as many boys as girls.

Children under supervision

The number of children placed under supervision, has been around 20 thousand for a number of years now. In 2002 5.4 thousand children were placed under new supervision orders, just as many girls as boys. One quarter of these children are aged fifteen or sixteen.

Supervision orders by age, 2002

Supervision orders by age, 2002

In 2002 5.9 thousand supervision orders were ended. The children concerned had been under supervision for 3.7 years on average.

Marcelle van Zee