Asylum claims up 75 percent in the Netherlands

Asylum applications in the Netherlands increased by 75% between 2014 and 2013, the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Ministry of Security and Justice reports. The number of asylum applications rose from 17,189 to 30,023. 23,970 first asylum applications were filed in 2014 in the Netherlands. The most common groups were Syrians (9,475), Eritreans (3,927) and stateless people (3,763) who were mostly Palestinians coming from Syria. Between 2013 and 2014, the number of repeated asylum applications decreased by 23%, from 2,790 to 2,145. If compared to 2012, the decrease in 2014 was 38%. The most common nationalities in the repeated asylum applications in 2014 were Iraq (454) and Afghanistan (303). An asylum status holder whose residence permit has been renewed may, within three months of the renewal and under special conditions, apply for the authorization for temporary stay for family members. If the visa is issued, these family remembers receive a derived asylum permit when entering the Netherlands. Until March 28, 2014, these family member were recorded as first asylum applications. After March 28, they were recorded separately. This makes comparing this type of application to previous years impossible. There were 3,899 applications for this type of asylum between March 28 and December 31, 2014.