The government expects the number of asylum seekers arriving in the Netherlands this year to actually be much higher than previously thought. About 70,000 people are likely to sign up. We examine what can be done for the high number of approved applications.
High asylum numbers were leaked to NOS earlier this month and are now being confirmed. Foreign Minister Eric van der Burg presented the Multi-Year Production Forecast (MPP) to the House of Representatives, saying that at least 49,000 asylum seekers will arrive in the Netherlands this year, but the number is expected to be between 67,000 and 77,000. .
It is very likely that around 70,000 new asylum seekers will arrive this year. That’s about 17,500 more than was estimated at the end of last year. Van der Burg says that if nothing is done, the increase will continue in the coming years.
The Foreign Minister says that not only has the number of asylum applications in the Netherlands increased sharply. It is also available in the rest of Europe. “There is a lot of unrest in countries on the European continent and beyond,” he explains. So many people are running away.
You need more accommodation
The numbers mean that the central office will need 77,100 reception places for the admission of asylum seekers from 2024, and the assessments accumulated in the Aliens and Naturalization Service (IND) will increase by tens of thousands of files.
The IND states that the number of asylum applications exceeds the already established organization. According to the service, it is therefore inevitable that waiting times for asylum seekers will continue to increase. However, the IND will process 18,000 applications from Syrians and Yemenis faster because in these cases the chances of asylum are higher. And, for example, applications from Algerians and Moldovans who have little chance of success receive preferential treatment and can be processed more quickly.
High entry for municipalities leads to “highest target since 2015”. A record number of asylum seekers need to find accommodation: 27,300 people will have received residence permits in the second half of this year.
“We currently have 50,000 places, but most of them are emergency shelters,” says Van der Burg. The emergency shelter stops for a certain time and then stops again. “With the anticipation of 70,000 people in the next year, you realize I won’t be bored anytime soon.”
He admits that a lot of things went wrong last year. “We’re going to have to work really hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We have to face it. Otherwise, people in our cities will take to the streets, and we don’t want that for them or for our society.”
In his letter, van der Burg explained that he wanted to do something about the number of asylum applications approved as soon as possible. This share has been increasing since 2020 and is currently higher than in other European countries.
According to the cabinet, this is partly due to court decisions and as a result the IND has to prove why a particular asylum seeker is not entitled to a residence permit.
Van der Burg says this needs to change, otherwise the Netherlands will become very attractive as a destination country. It therefore wants to look less at entire groups of asylum seekers (and their origins) and more at individual applications.
Cabinet wants to control immigration
The government has been talking behind the scenes for several months about ways to better control immigration. This affects not only asylum seekers, but also migrant workers and students. Something is expected to come out in May.
In addition, Van der Burg drafted a so-called distribution law that could be used to compel local authorities to participate in the reception of asylum seekers. This bill has not yet been discussed in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
