More than 13,000 asylum seekers and refugees facing registration backlog

There is a growing backlog in registering asylum seekers and refugees with residency status in the BRP, the database for municipalities to maintain civilian records. I’m just over a year, the backlog has risen from about 2,330 people to over 13,400. The vast majority — more than 12,000 — are asylum seekers who have been in the Netherlands for more than six months, said Asylum Affairs State Secretary Eric van der Burg in a letter to the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday.

Without inclusion in the population registry, asylum seekers and refugees cannot receive a citizen service number (BSN), which means that they cannot open a bank account, or qualify for other essential services. Without a citizen service number, they are also not allowed to work, and obtaining housing becomes more difficult.

The backlog, which started during the coronavirus pandemic, is only increasing. "An undesirable situation," the state secretary wrote. During the pandemic, the five locations set up specifically for refugees and asylum seekers to register in the BRP were partially closed, but they are now running at full strength again.

Due to the "current influx of asylum seekers”and the higher than predicted number of family members later joining them, the pressure is not only increasing on the migration chain, but also on the BRP registration locations, Van der Burg said in his letter. He was informing parliament also on behalf of Interior Affairs State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen.

They are now looking at how they can increase capacity at the special BRP registration sites, and how the process may be improved. In addition, it is being investigated whether refugees and asylum seekers can register in the BRP in more municipalities, or in all of them.

“This may allow the aforementioned backlog of 13,440 asylum seekers and residence permit holders awaiting registration to be substantially reduced."