A month after the fall of the government, it was clear to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) that hardly any immigrants were entering the Netherlands through the so-called “principle of reunification for reunification.” While VVD leader Dylan Yeşilgoz spoke during that period about the thousands of people who would benefit from it. It was an important topic during the election.
The numbers are insignificant, and thus could have caused a sea change in the pre-election debate. Even the previous government fell because of the immigration issue. But these numbers were not shared with State Minister Van der Burgh Weischelgeuse. Politicians were not informed until this spring. The documents were published last night.
1% were traveling for the purpose of family reunification
In fact, in 2022 there were only 100 applications, of which 40 are currently approved. In 2023, 110 applications were submitted, of which 10 have currently been approved. “From 2019 to 2022, approximately 1 percent of all granted family reunification applications were approved,” the IND wrote.
What is family reunification?
An asylum holder can apply for family reunification. The basis is that the person belongs to one family. However, it happens that a dependent traveler applies for his or her asylum permit after entering the Netherlands. This family member then applies for family reunification to other family members: family reunification after family reunification.
Example: A woman (age 60) comes to the Netherlands and brings her son (age 25) as part of a family reunification. He is then a follower traveler. In turn, the son presents his own request to his family. This means family trip after family trip.
“Why party leader Yesilgoz thought these numbers were in the thousands is not entirely clear because the numbers from the IND were missing,” says political reporter Flor Bremer. “The fog surrounding these numbers still exists now, as it seems that when the numbers became available, a month after the fall of the government, they were not allowed to be shared with ministers or the outside world.”
The IND itself states that this is because the numbers were not complete. But the numbers existing now hardly differ from the numbers known at that time.
“A very sensitive topic.”
RTL Nieuws also requested these numbers at the time, but did not receive them. “With these new documents sent to the House, the Opposition will be trying to get an answer to this again. The likelihood of it going to waste again is high because the Minister of State who has to answer to it has already indicated that he does not have that answer.”“
According to Bremer, this does not present a good picture of the communication between the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the ministry. “And on such a sensitive topic.”
At the beginning of August, the IND provided an overview of the numbers of migrants who applied for travel in connection with family reunification. State Minister Eric van der Burgh wrote in a letter that appeared on the Internet yesterday that he and Schelgoose were not aware of the numbers. “This concept note did not reach me as Secretary of State for Justice and Security nor to the Minister of Justice and Security via the usual DigiJust line.”
“The treasury exploded because of superstition.”
The IND notes that the numbers were not shared because they were not final numbers and therefore would not provide a complete picture. The numbers shared now are barely different from August's numbers.
The House of Representatives is now asking for clarification. Rep. Katy Perry is furious at Yesilgoz: “Blowing up the government over superstition. Then withholding that until after the election.”
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The IND told RTL News that it would provide a response later today.
