The number of first asylum requests in the second quarter of this year was taken by 32 percent compared to the same period in 2024. In total, the immigration and naturalization service (IND) registered more than five thousand asylum applications, in particular by Eritreans. For the first time since 2016, they were the largest group of refugees establishing in the Netherlands, where they were always Syrians, as it appears on Thursday From figures from Statistics Netherlands.
The number of asylum requests increased by 17 percent in the second quarter compared to the first three months of 2025. That increase is a slight trend break over a longer period of time. Since the end of 2023, when about 13 thousand first asylum applications were made, that number has fallen.
Geopolitical and international developments often influence asylum migration developments. Syrians have been the largest group of asylum seekers in the Netherlands since the civil war in that country. However, the number of asylum applications has fallen since the end of 2024, when the regime of leader Bashar al-Assad fell.
According to outgoing minister David van Weel (asylum, VVD), the situation in Syria is now so safe that he tightened the admission policy. More than 16 thousand applications were open at the immigration service last month. The IND will now assess whether they are eligible for a longer stay in the Netherlands.
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Eritreans leave from sliding land
At the same time, the number of Eritrean asylum requests in the Netherlands increased. In the second quarter of 2025, 1,175 Eritreans made an asylum application; That is a perfectfolding compared to the first quarter. That number is also almost twice as high as the number of first asylum requests made by Syrians (595).
In recent years, Eritrea has slipped into a totalitarian and militarist state without a political opposition against the sitting regime. In addition to trapping liberties, there is hardly any work for Eritreans: it is one of the poorest countries in the world. Young people in particular try to flee the country. Of all Eritrean asylum requests in the Netherlands, 64 percent came from a minor. In addition, Eritrean men (72 percent) mainly opened an asylum procedure in the second quarter of this year.
After Eritreans and Syrians, Turks formed the third largest group that made an asylum application. In total, the IND registered in Turkish 310 asylum requests, which remained about that number about that of the beginning of the year.
Dutch policy sharpened
Although the number of first asylum requests in the second quarter of this year was a lot lower compared to 2024, the government fell over this subject in the same period. At the beginning of June, PVV leader Geert Wilders left the cabinet because of the in his eyes high number of asylum seekers. Wilders also found that too little progress was made with the “strictest asylum policy ever” promised by him. ”
The intention was that PVV asylum minister Marjolein Faber would shape that policy, but Wilders thought she was insufficiently given room for that from the other parties. He wanted a ten -point plan, with a total asylum stop, for example, something that is legally difficult to achieve.
Despite the outgoing state of the cabinet, the Chamber debated two asylum laws in July, which contained many elements of Fabers previous legislative proposals. Among other things, illegality was punishable. For a long time it was uncertain whether the laws would have a parliamentary majority, because the illegality punishment for parties such as NSC and SGP went too far. The two parties still voted for the laws after Minister Van Weel promised them that the Council of State would assess that again.
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