AMSTERDAM, April 10: Thousands of people gathered in Amsterdam on Saturday to protest the Dutch government's plans to expel 26,000 failed asylum seekers, many of whom have lived in the country for years.

Organizers said 15,000 people had taken part in the protest march around the Amsterdam city centre while police put the figure between 7,000 and 10,000.

Many people walked with banners demanding a general amnesty for asylum seekers and denouncing the Dutch centre-right government.

"We demand a humane asylum policy" and "Stop the deportations", said some of the signs.

Forty-four-year old Petra travelled to the demonstration with her two teenage daughters from a village in the eastern Netherlands.

"I think it is shocking that this kind of inhumanity can happen in the Netherlands. I believe everyone has the right to live here," she said.

In February the parliament approved the controversial plan of liberal Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk despite strong opposition from the public and from human rights groups.

Under the legislation, 26,000 failed asylum seekers will be forced to return to their countries of origin within the next three years, even if they have been living in the Netherlands for a considerable time.-AFP