ポリアモリーウィーク実行委員会@文学フリマ東京43(P-1:南1・2ホール)

Hundreds of people living in the Netherlands have polygamous marriages recorded in the country’s official population register despite Dutch law prohibiting polygamy, with government figures showing 463 residents registered in such marriages at the end of 2025. Dutch authorities say those involved were not Dutch nationals and had no connection to the Netherlands when their marriages were contracted abroad, generally in countries where polygamous marriages are legally recognized, including Morocco, Egypt and Libya. Dutch law prohibits entering another marriage while already married, with bigamy carrying a potential prison sentence. The issue recently reached the European Court of Human Rights in the case of a Yemeni asylum seeker who had three wives and 13 children. The Netherlands permitted one wife and eight children to join him but refused residence permits for five children from his other polygamous marriages. On September 8, the ECHR ruled in the Netherlands’ favor, finding no violation of the right to family life and stating that countries cannot be required to recognize polygamous marriages that conflict with their own legal order.