Asylum reception eating up Netherlands foreign development aid budget

The reception of asylum seekers accounted fore more than a quarter of this year's budget for development aid. This is according to a letter Minister Lilianne Ploumen of Development Cooperation discussed with the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, on Thursday, the Volkskrant reports. Up to date 836 million euros of the development aid budget was used to cover the first year reception of asylum seekers, Ploumen wrote. That is 18 percent of the budget intended to aid developing countries. The Immigration and Naturalization Service expects 58 thousand asylum seekers this year, however. Which means that more money will be needed. The government works on an average of almost 25 thousand euros needed per asylum seeker. That means that taking in 58 thousand asylum seekers will cost about 1.3 billion euros this year - 27 percent of the total development aid budget. The Immigration and Naturalization Service expects that next year will also bring around 58 thousand asylum seekers. According to the Volkskrant, that is more than double the number Ploumen accounts for in her budget. Which means that the amounts reserved for reception in the coming years will be inadequate.