The number of people who submitted an asylum application in the Netherlands in the third quarter of 2022 has increased compared to the previous quarter. In total, 10,600 people made a first request, 3,600 more than the three months before. The number of relatives of asylum seekers who have received a residence permit has increased by 500 people to 3,600 in the same period. That reports the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on Monday based on asylum figures from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND).
The number of asylum applications is rising this year, after fewer applications were submitted in 2020 and 2021 and fewer people also traveled to the Netherlands with their families. The low number was mainly due to travel restrictions imposed by the corona pandemic. After the lifting of those restrictions, the number of asylum applications and family members increased again from the second half of 2021, the figures show.
More than four in ten asylum applications come from people who come from Syria, the figures show. In the third quarter of 2022, there were 4,605 Syrians, a doubling compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of Afghan asylum applications rose by 58 percent to 996. Eighty people of Russian nationality made a first asylum application, slightly less than the first half of the year when 120 people were registered in the first and second quarters respectively. and 170 Russians applied for asylum. Ukrainians who flee to the Netherlands because of the war do not necessarily have to submit an asylum application.
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