Immediately upon entering a reception center, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) registers the nationality of an asylum seeker. But this cannot be determined directly for everyone. Someone can refuse to answer, say they do not know what their own nationality is or have the nationality of a country that no longer exists or is recognized. The IND then assigns the label ‘nationality unknown’.
More and more people with such an ‘unknown nationality’ have been making a first asylum application in the Netherlands since the first quarter of 2025, recent figures from Statistics Netherlands showed. In the first quarter of 2026, 1,100, making them the largest group of the almost six thousand first applications. A year earlier, just under two hundred first asylum applications were made by people with an ‘unknown nationality’. In the Basic Registration of Personal Data (BRP), approximately thirty thousand people are registered in this way.
The new group with an ‘unknown nationality’ mainly consists of people from the Palestinian territories, asylum lawyers and the IND say NRC. It is often known where they come from, but because the Netherlands does not recognize the Palestinian state, they are registered as ‘nationality unknown’. There are according to the IND “no reliable figures available on the number of applications from Palestinian asylum seekers or the number of Palestinians in the asylum procedure.”
The experts cannot say why more Palestinians applied for asylum last quarter.
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‘Not in the system’
According to asylum lawyer Flip Schüller, Palestinian asylum seekers can be divided into a number of groups. Some fled before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated in 2023, others since the war broke out. According to Schüller, who assists many Palestinians, there is an “enormous delay” between the moment someone flees and when they arrive in the Netherlands – often via Egypt, Turkey and Greece.
The ceasefire, which has been in place in Gaza since the end of last year, may play a role. Since then, the borders have been partly opened, which, according to asylum lawyer Igna Oomen, makes it somewhat easier to flee the area. But, Oomen qualifies, it is not certain that the entire group of asylum seekers of ‘unknown nationality’ who now submitted a first asylum application actually consists of Palestinians from Gaza. Due to the protracted conflict, Palestinians have been fleeing to surrounding countries for some time, where they have lived in some cases for decades.
According to the spokesperson, it is not the case that an asylum procedure takes longer for someone with an ‘unknown nationality’
According to an IND spokesperson, registering ‘nationality unknown’ does not necessarily have negative consequences: “Deciding whether someone should be granted asylum is an interplay of the entire asylum story.” Stories from asylum seekers and a possible language evaluation are also taken into account. “There are quite a lot of people who come here without papers, so the identity of applicants is not always 100 percent established. It is more that someone makes it plausible who they are.”
Especially for people from the Palestinian territories, the ‘nationality unknown’ registration is “simply administrative” and has no influence on the procedure, the spokesperson says. Oomen confirms that. Her Palestinian clients “simply travel with a neat Palestinian passport” and can prove their nationality. “But because the Netherlands does not recognize Palestine, Palestinian nationality is not included in the system,” said Oomen.
Language evaluation followed by a return decision
However, the registration of asylum seekers who have difficulty proving their nationality requires more research. “If you come from Uganda and you have a Ugandan passport, it is of course much easier to determine your identity,” says the IND spokesperson. The spokesperson cannot say how much more time this generally takes.
According to the spokesperson, it is not the case that an asylum procedure takes longer for someone with an ‘unknown nationality’. “The length of the application is mainly due to the waiting time. Finding out the nationality does not make much difference to the processing time.”
According to the asylum lawyers, such a registration can make the procedure more complex if both nationality and country of origin cannot be proven. If an asylum seeker cannot prove either of these, he or she will be rejected, according to lawyer Maartje Terpstra. Based on, for example, a language evaluation, a return decision then determines where someone should return.
Of the thirty thousand people in the Netherlands with an unknown nationality, approximately six thousand are stateless – they are not recognized as nationals by “any country”. To as to be registered statelesssomeone must prove their identity with documents such as a passport and birth certificate. With such a registration, a status holder can naturalize after three years after completing the asylum procedure, instead of after the usual five years.
‘Effectively stateless’
Palestinian asylum seekers can be classified as stateless. “But the IND has very strict document requirements for this,” says Oomen. For example, they must provide a registration document from the aid organization UNRWA. “If they do not have all the documents, they are temporarily called ‘nationality unknown’, while in fact they are stateless.”
Complying with everything can prove complicated, Schüller also says. “Some of the Palestinians cannot meet the document requirement. Especially now that the entire civil administration in Gaza has been bombed. You can ask for a birth certificate from Deir al-Balah, but there is no town hall left.”
There are some who say: why does the Netherlands not recognize the Palestinian state? Am I nothing then?
You can be classified as ‘stateless’ through the municipality or the court. The latter route involves a long procedure, says Schüller, because it does not go directly through the IND, but through the BRP and the municipality where an asylum seeker is registered. But according to the lawyer, individual municipalities have insufficient expertise to judge statelessness. As a result, they must still seek advice from the IND. In this way, says Schüller, “administrative and bureaucratic obstacles are created,” meaning the process can take one and a half to two years. It deprives some asylum seekers of the opportunity to quickly naturalize, the lawyer says.
‘Nationality unknown’ can feel like a “denial of their identity” for asylum seekers, says Oomen. Schüller recognizes this: “There are some who say: why doesn’t the Netherlands recognize the Palestinian state? Am I nothing?” Schüller has also experienced Palestinian clients being identified as Israeli. “They got very angry about that, and rightly so.”
The asylum complex in Ter Apel.
Photo Kees van de Veen
Israel has banned UNRWA
Asylum law will change “significantly”, says Oomen. Last month, the Senate voted to reintroduce the dual-status system – which makes a distinction between people who flee from personal persecution (they receive an A status and are seen as refugees) and people who flee from other violence (B status, are not seen as refugees). Stricter rules for family reunification apply to the latter group.
According to assistant professor of immigration and asylum law Mark Klaassen, nationality is not the most relevant for the status granted. This mainly depends on personal circumstances. Oomen confirms this: “A Ugandan who flees because he is gay has a personal basis and then, if that is believed in the Netherlands, becomes a refugee.” That person will receive an A status.
Palestinians from Gaza have a special position because they were in principle excluded from the refugee treaty due to the protection of UNRWA. “But that protection has ended,” says Oomen. Israel banned the organization early last year. As a result, Palestinians are now considered refugees and are entitled to A status, expects asylum lawyer Vivian Oliana.
The group is diverse and, in addition to Palestinians, also includes people from the Roma people or people from border areas
In addition, the European Migration Pact will come into effect from June, which speaks of ‘disadvantaged’ and ‘prospective’ asylum seekers. The disadvantaged come from areas where less than 20 percent of applicants are normally granted asylum. These asylum seekers receive an accelerated asylum procedure because there is a greater chance that they will be rejected.
This binary division makes having an ‘unknown nationality’ “something very complicated,” according to Oomen. The group is extremely diverse and, in addition to Palestinians, also includes Roma or people from border areas who were never properly registered.
The opportunities for asylum seekers from these different groups also differ. So which group does someone whose nationality is ‘unknown’ fall into? According to Oomen and the other lawyers, that remains a guess for the time being.
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