The law provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in practice. The Government cooperates with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. All asylum seekers can plead their cases before immigration authorities. Asylum seekers arriving by air with no papers may be detained for a maximum of 2 months in closed centers while awaiting consideration of their cases. Children in such centers do not attend school.
Opposition parties operate freely.
Women hold some high-level positions in the Government formed after the May general elections. The law requires that 33 percent of the candidates on the ballot in the next general election, to be held no later than 1999, be women. The existence of communities speaking Dutch, French, and German engenders significant complexities for the State. All major institutions, including political parties, are divided along linguistic lines. National decisions take into account the specific needs of each regional and linguistic group.