News item | 28-11-2025 | 14:27
The Autumn Memorandum shows that the Ministry of Asylum and Migration will have spent less in 2025 than previously budgeted. The lower influx of asylum seekers and displaced persons reduced the need for shelter, which leads to lower costs. Expenditure this year will therefore amount to just over €7.6 billion, while slightly more than €8.5 billion was previously anticipated.
Most of the windfall comes from the reception of Ukrainian refugees. This section shows a lower expenditure of €462 million. The lower expenditure is mainly the result of fewer municipal shelters created and the fact that fewer municipalities than expected have declared their actual costs. In addition, money is returned from municipalities because an advance was sometimes requested that was too high last year.
There has also been a significant windfall at the COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers). Due to the lower influx, the average occupancy has fallen to approximately 75,000 people, resulting in lower costs of € 224 million than previously anticipated. In addition, the IND (Immigration and Naturalization Service) has a lower turnover of €86.5 million. At Nidos, the organization that guides unaccompanied minor refugees, the occupancy is lower, resulting in a windfall of € 81.9 million.
The work stocks at the IND have increased further, causing waiting times for asylum applications to increase. This leads to an increase in the number and amount of penalty payments. That is why €160 million will be added to the provision for penalty payments at the IND. The increasing penalty payments show that the Emergency Asylum Measures Act must be dealt with quickly, because this law contains measures that help to reduce these penalty payments.
The windfalls in the Asylum and Migration budget, a total of €284 million, flow back to the Ministry of Finance as part of the government-wide underspending. The windfalls within the Ukraine file are not included here, because these expenditures have been placed outside the regular expenditure framework.