News item | 04-11-2022 | 15:20
An increase in the number of asylum applications can be seen throughout Europe. 48,200 applications are expected for the Netherlands this year. 6,700 more than the forecast six months ago. This mainly concerns family members who come after the lifting of COVID travel restrictions. With unchanged policy, the number of applications will grow to 50,650 in 2023. For the following years, the influx will be 41,000, although the margin of uncertainty is greater.
This is apparent from the six-monthly Multi-Year Production Forecast of the Ministry of Justice and Security and the organizations involved in the asylum chain, which State Secretary Van der Burg sends to the House today.
State Secretary Van der Burg: “The population in our country is growing for the most part because people move here for work or love. At the same time, more people are fleeing war and violence here. Not only from Ukraine, but also from other countries, such as Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen. The higher forecast follows the greater unrest in the world. It is worrisome that this will exacerbate the problems in the asylum chain. Going on the same path doesn’t work. Action is needed now to regain traction. With this letter, I am taking first steps to ensure this. In addition, complicated choices are required, in which all the obvious options have already been used. I will talk to everyone involved to make those choices, no matter how difficult that is sometimes.”
Compared to other EU countries, the Netherlands has a high acceptance rate. The number of first asylum applicants granted is 85%. This number has increased from 3,170 in 2018 to 11,750 in 2022, as fewer underprivileged applicants are applying. There is also a higher number of very promising applications from Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. The State Secretary is starting an investigation into the underlying causes, although the percentage was also higher in 2015-16, for example.
IND: training extra staff and smarter handling
The IND is expected to handle 28,000 requests this year. Due to the higher expected influx, the workload will increase from 20,400 cases at the beginning of 2022 to 47,800 cases at the end of 2023. In the coming years, the IND will continue to focus on recruiting and training additional employees. With an eye to the rapid growth of the organization with 400 additional FTEs in 2022. The IND is also investigating the causes of the increased complexity of applications. The organization continuously works on improvement and explores how the processes can be set up in a smarter way.
COA is working on sufficient places. Measures needed for inflow, through and outflow
COA has made a decision on the capacity of reception places on the basis of the forecasts. Before 1 January 2023, the COA is requesting 61,200 places. If all agreements are met to accommodate status holders, approximately 55,000 reception places will be needed. If the policy remains the same, the number of required reception places will be 75,500 as of 1 January 2024. In response to these high forecasts, the State Secretary is exploring which additional measures are needed in the area of inflow, throughflow and outflow to ensure less pressure on reception.
Agreements have already been made with the security regions to keep the crisis emergency shelters open for longer. Instead of 1 January 2023, these will in principle be phased out by 1 April and no later than 1 July. The cabinet is also working on a law that will ensure sufficient reception places throughout the Netherlands.
Amv’ers: extra places, better guidance and earlier to regular reception
On average, 100 to 150 unaccompanied minors apply for asylum per week. At first, 5,510 unaccompanied minors were taken into account for this year. Now the number is 12% higher at 6,180. The State Secretary is investigating why this is. The shelter for single young people is already overcrowded. This is worrying in view of the support that this vulnerable group needs. In addition to Nidos, COA will organize a total of 5,000 extra places at AZCs and through youth care and social networks until January 1, 2024, so that the pressure on Ter Apel will be relieved.
The State Secretary is taking a temporary measure to allow unaccompanied minors to move on to regular reception three months before they turn 18, if this is appropriate. He prefers not to take this measure, but it is necessary to get the target occupancy of 55 UAMs in Ter Apel more within reach. Unfortunately, the previous call to municipalities did not lead to enough places.
The judiciary will also be supported in the coming years to handle all cases and appeals in a timely manner. In addition, a lot of work is being done on extra outflow of status holders, despite the tight housing market. Municipalities will again be given a task to work on this. In addition, we will continue to work structurally on returning rejected applicants to their country of origin.