Butcher in Boxmeer faces business closure over residency permit denial

Henk Meulepas, a 73-year-old butcher in Boxmeer, Netherlands, faces the potential closure of his long-standing business because the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) has denied a residency permit to his intended successor.

Meulepas intends to hand over the butcher shop to Aicha, a 26-year-old woman from Guinea whom the couple has treated as their daughter since meeting her in Gambia twelve years ago. Aicha fled Guinea to avoid forced marriage and moved to the Netherlands in 2022 to live with the Meulepas family. Although she is skilled in all aspects of the butcher shop's operations, the IND has refused her residency, stating she could return to Guinea.

Meulepas argues that Aicha would not be safe in her home country and emphasizes that there is no other successor available to take over the business, which has been in operation for 33 years.