A background reportage for the Scottish BBC program Eòrpa about the problems long term asylum seekers face in the Netherlands.
Caused by the very strict Dutch immigration legislation, many asylum seekers that are already waiting for a residence permit for more than five years are helped by volunteers. Often whole families are thrown out on the street, because the Dutch immigration office does not know what to do with them anymore. Also many mistakes are made, with human tragedies as a result.
The filming takes place in a huge illegal reception centre for stranded asylum seekers run by volunteers in the Northern Dutch province Friesland.
A Tunisian/Syrian family with four children that has been living on the streets for a year is portrayed. Also Ali from Sudan is interviewed. He fled the regime in his home country because of political activities, after which his wife divorced him after arriving in The Netherlands. Now he is waiting for a residence permit, while the rest of his family, except his oldest son, got a status. Volunteers explain why these people need help, and why they give the help.
For this production Featurez gave advice, did the research, set-up and planning of the filming, booked a rental van, did the driving, accompanied the filming, did the interviews and translations.