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Tuesday, 29
October 2024 - 09:14
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.
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