Harry Roque’s bubble in The Hague: ‘Not sure what happens now’

MANILA, Philippines – Harry Roque’s bubble in The Hague, Netherlands is getting smaller and smaller after the Netherlands blurred its protective jurisdiction by referring his asylum application to Austria.

The breathing room for Roque now is the absence just yet of a red notice from the Interpol. “It’s in the process of application. No news yet on the approval and dissemination,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told Rappler in a message on Thursday, November 27.

Roque, who is the former presidential spokesperson of Rodrigo Duterte, is back in The Hague after being offloaded from a flight supposed to take him to Vienna, Austria on November 25.

“Not sure what happens now since I can’t travel until January,” Roque told Rappler in a message on Thursday.

Right now, there’s an outstanding Philippine warrant against Roque from a court in Angeles, Pampanga, for human trafficking over his role in the busted scam hub in Porac, Pampanga. Roque lawyered for the cover real estate company in an ejectment case, and assisted the POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operator) in setting meetings with Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) when they were renewing their license. The warrant was issued way back in May.

Roque applied for asylum in The Netherlands beforehand, and has been claiming his right under the principle of non-refoulement or his right not to be deported to the Philippines while his asylum application is ongoing.

He faced another setback when another Philippine court canceled his passport, which the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed had already taken effect. They confirmed this on November 25, which is the same day that Roque boarded a flight to Vienna, Austria.

It turns out that the Netherlands had referred his asylum application to Austria, according to him.

Under the European Union’s Dublin Regulations, an asylum application is mainstreamed by determining the country that must decide on the application. Among the factors considered is the country that gave the Schengen visa to a traveler entering Europe. In Roque’s case, it was Austria.

Roque said that the Dutch government informed him of this and gave him a ticket to Vienna. Roque’s passport remains with the Dutch government, he said, but explained he was able to board the plane without a passport because it’s allowed by the same Dublin regulations for asylum seekers. He said he was offloaded when the airline found out that he had just undergone two surgeries, and was in possession of medical certificates saying he was unfit to travel.

Roque said this prompted a discussion between him and the airline. Roque said he explained to the airline that while he wanted to obey doctors’ orders not to fly, he said he thought he did not have a choice but to fly to Vienna. The final decision was for him to be offloaded.

He remains in The Hague, with a canceled passport, and an outstanding Philippine warrant. If and when the Interpol issues a red notice, the Dutch police will be alerted, given that the Netherlands is an Interpol member.

It would be a jurisdictional battle if and when the red notice comes out, because the Netherlands has an obligation to cooperate, but they also have an obligation to the person seeking refuge in their country.

It’s now unclear how much of a protective bubble the Netherlands will be for Roque because it appears that it’s Austria, the country that gave him his visa, that must protect him — and he is not there, or at least not yet.

Under the Dublin Regulations, the transfer to Austria should be through “supervised departure or under escort.”

According to the regulation, “Member States should promote voluntary transfers by providing adequate information to the applicant and should ensure that supervised or escorted transfers are undertaken in a humane manner, in full compliance with fundamental rights and respect for human dignity.”

Roque said himself, the deadline for the transfer is on December 10.

“Netherlands only has until December 10 para mapapunta ako sa (to transfer me to) Austria. I’m sure they will try their best to have me transferred to Austria. Ako naman (as for me), I am not resisting, I’m just asserting medical condition,” Roque said over his livestream late Wednesday. – with reports from Jairo Bolledo and Bea Cupin/Rappler.com