Asylum applications dropped by 23% this summer; Many municipalities have unused shelters
In the third quarter of 2024, 8,100 people submitted their first asylum application in the Netherlands, 23 percent less than the same quarter last year. The number of family reunification requests remained stable at 2,700, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. EenVandaag found that 20 percent of Dutch municipalities have asylum shelter locations that the asylum agency COA is not yet using. Not because these 24 locations aren’t needed, but because of delayed construction or permits waiting to be issued.
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) is still desperately looking for shelters. The asylum registration center in Ter Apel is still regularly overcrowded. But 24 locations for shelters designated by municipalities remain unused for various regions. According to EenVandaag, slow permit and construction processes are the most common reasons, but there are also rumors that the COA is slow in providing the correct information. It sometimes takes up to eight months for the COA to submit a permit application.
“The cooperation of various Ministries is indispensable in removing such practical bottlenecks, as is sufficient clout at the COA to actually put locations proposed by municipalities into operation,” the province of Noord-Holland told the program.
According to Zaanstad mayor Jan Hamming, the COA needs more expert support from the national government. “The COA is a reception organization, not a development organization. If you have to do that as well, you need to be given space by the government and also have additional expertise to do this properly. We have often seen that this was insufficient,” he told the program.
According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the number of first asylum applications in the third quarter dropped by 2,400 compared to the same quarter last year. The number of applications from Syrians fell particularly sharply, from 4,300 to 3,300. Most applications came from people under the age of 35, the statistics office said. 29 percent came from children under the age of 18. Three-quarters of applications came from men.
Compared to the second quarter, the number of asylum applications was slightly higher, but the increase between the second and third quarters was “much smaller than in the previous three years.” The number of people who sought asylum in the Netherlands in the first half of the year was higher than the same period last year.
In the third quarter, 2,650 people filed a family reunification request - an application to join a family member who already has refugee status and a residency permit in the Netherlands. That number is relatively stable compared to a year earlier and the second quarter. Most family reunification requests came from Syria.
