Deportation of undocumented persons down by a fifth since new Cabinet took office

Fewer undocumented migrants were deported back to their country of origin in the last six months of 2024 than during the first half of the year. This is a decrease of almost 20 percent, these numbers, which were rounded up to the tens, were provided by the Repatriation and Departure Service.

There were 440 deportations from January to June when the former Cabinet was still in charge. The second half of the year, which is when the Cabinet consisting of the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB came into power on July 2, saw 360 undocumented persons deported back to their country of origin.

One of the differences is in the number of deportations of Moroccans. It had been reported that there were 120 forced deportations of Moroccans in the first six months of the year, whereas there were just 50 in the second half of the year.

The decrease can be linked to several factors, a spokesperson of the Minister of Asylum and Migration, Marjolein Faber, said. For example, she said it could be because of “staff availability, the availability of detention places, and the fact of whether the undocumented person is definitively deportable and has not started a new procedure that can be awaited in the Netherlands."

The previous government improved relations and thus cooperation with Morocco, resulting in more Moroccans being deported in 2023, after a period in which there were hardly any deportations to Morocco.

Revijara Oosterhuis, the coordinator of the Immigration Detention Reporting Center of the National Undocumented Support Center Foundation, had earlier said that a possible explanation for this is that Morocco is “not happy” with the new Cabinet. But the spokesperson for Faber has said that the cooperation with Moroccan authorities has continued to be very successful in the second half of 2024.

There was a significant increase in the number of Algerians who were deported in the second half of 2024. A total of 90 Algerians were deported compared to 30 in the first six months of the year. This is due to “the good cooperation of Algeria,” said the minister’s spokesperson.