Up until October 1st, the Dutch immigration and naturalization service IND paid over a million euros in penalty payments to asylum seekers and refugees this year due to too slow procedures. That amount is likely to quadruple by the end of this year, because thousands of claims have not yet been handled, the Volkskrant reports based on figures from the IND.
family reunification
Nov 13 '18 08:08
May 3 '18 08:00
The children of former soldiers of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) seek recognition for "a forgotten chapter in their history". Moluccans who came to the Netherlands as KNIL soldiers in 1951 were not always allowed to bring all their children, resulting in around 300 children being left behind, according to Maluku4Maluku, a foundation committed to getting recognition for Moluccan KNIL soldiers, NOS reports.
Oct 19 '17 10:30
A total of 4,400 people applied for asylum in the Netherlands in the third quarter of this year, and 2,300 people joined family members that already have residency in the country, Statistics Netherlands reports. This is the first time since the third quarter of 2016 that the number of new asylum requests is higher than family reunification applications.
Jul 3 '17 11:15
Family reunification is still the main reason for immigrants to come to the Netherlands, according to Statistics Netherlands. Even at the peak of the asylum crisis in 2015, there were twice as many family reunification immigrants as asylum seekers given a residency permit, the statistics office said on Monday based on new figures.
In 2015 a total of 159 thousand immigrants moved to the Netherlands. A third of them came to join a family member already living in the Netherlands. The rest came to the Netherlands for work, studies or to apply for asylum.
Jan 16 '17 16:15
In 2016 the Netherlands received a total of 31,642 asylum applications, according to figures from the immigration and naturalization service IND. That is nearly half lower than the 58,900 applications received in 2015, NOS reports.
Nov 10 '16 08:34
Rotterdam alderman Ronald Schneider was insulted and attacked by residents of the Hoogvliet neighborhood after a meeting about accommodating refugees in the area on Wednesday night, NU.nl reports
The municipality of Rotterdam wants to accommodate 12 refugees - asylum seekers with a residency permit - in Hoogvliet. These are men waiting for their families to arrive under the family reunification regulation. According to the plan, they will stay in the neighborhood for up to two years.
Nov 8 '16 12:50
During the first half of this year the Koninklijke Marechaussee discovered a record number of undocumented migrants in the Netherlands. In total 1,120 undocumented migrants were found, 700 moe than in the same period last year, according to a report State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice released on Tuesday, ANP reports.
Oct 18 '16 10:10
There was a slight increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving in the Netherlands last month compared to August, according to Statistics Netherlands. The number has been slowly increasing since April.
Jun 20 '16 08:36
The number of asylum seekers that arrived in the Netherlands last month dropped by half compared to May 2015. About a quarter of these asylum seekers came from Syria, according to figures Statistics Netherlands published on Monday.
May 12 '16 08:31
The asylum agreement between Turkey and the European Union seems to be bearing its first fruits. Since the agreement took effect last month, only 101 Syrians submitted their first application for asylum in the Netherlands - a much lower number than the 5,249 Syrian applications received at the peak in October last year
Jan 19 '16 08:57
An increasing number of asylum seekers are leaving the Netherlands voluntarily because they are discouraged by the Dutch asylum procedure, according the International Organization for Migration, the nongovernmental organizations that helps migrants with their voluntary return. "Under the current high influx of asylum seekers, there are many who choose for voluntary return relatively soon after arrival", a spokesperson said to the Volkskrant. "They get discouraged because it takes a long time to gain asylum and to have their family come over."
Nov 16 '15 07:29
The number of newly registered asylum seekers and refugees joining family members reached a record high of 11.7 thousand in October. In September there were 8.4 thousand.
Oct 21 '15 08:23
A record number of refugees applied for asylum in the Netherlands in September. A total of 8.4 thousand asylum seekers and people joining family members were registered, an increase of 21 percent compared to August.
Oct 20 '15 12:50
On Monday State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff sent a letter to the refugees in the Netherlands in which he explains that the asylum process will take longer and that they will have to spend more time living in asylum centers. The Association of Dutch Municipalities thinks it's great that the State Secretary sent the letter, but finds that more clarity is needed.
Aug 6 '15 08:49
The asylum centers in the Netherlands are overflowing due to a combination of the massive influx of new asylum seekers and the difficulty of finding those with a residence permit a home so that they can leave the centers.
