Of all migrants who came to the Netherlands in the past ten years, 11 percent were asylum seekers. That’s in the report The State of Migration 2023, which outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg of Asiel (VVD) sent to the House of Representatives on Friday. More than eight in ten immigrants came to the Netherlands for work, study or a romantic partner.
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According to the ministry, 2022 was “an eventful migration year” with a 61 percent increase in the number of immigrants. This was mainly due to the large number of refugees from Ukraine: 108,000. In total, there were 403,000 immigrants and 179,000 emigrants last year, resulting in a positive net migration of 224,000. Among the immigrants were 49,000 asylum seekers. Ukrainians are not included; they do not have to go through a regular procedure and can, for example, work faster than asylum seekers who are awaiting their residence permit.
More than half of the migrants who came to the Netherlands in 2022 were people from other EU countries, as was the average over the past ten years. Of all EU member states, most migrants came from Poland to the Netherlands.
‘Information for a balanced debate’
According to Van der Burg, “the rapid developments and many debates in the field of migration demonstrate the importance of good information” and the figures provide the necessary insights “for a balanced debate and for the proper substantiation of policy.” The outgoing State Secretary called on municipalities this Friday to arrange more reception places for asylum seekers.
Van der Burg is still waiting to see whether his dispersal law, which should distribute asylum seekers more evenly across the Netherlands and in some cases can force municipalities to take people in, will receive a parliamentary majority.