/s3/static.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/anp-478968487.jpg "Of the migrants who come to the Netherlands, 11 percent are asylum seekers")
Of all the migrants who came to the Netherlands in the past 10 years, 11 percent were asylum seekers. This is stated in the Migration Situation Report 2023, which was sent to the House of Representatives by outgoing State Secretary Erik van der Burgh from the Asylum Party (VVD) to the House of Representatives on Friday. More than eight out of ten immigrants came to the Netherlands to work, study or have a romantic partner.
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According to the ministry, 2022 was an “eventful year of migration” with a 61 percent increase in the number of migrants. This is mainly due to the large number of refugees from Ukraine: 108,000. In total, there were 403,000 migrants and 179,000 migrants last year, resulting in a positive net migration of 224,000. The migrants included 49,000 asylum seekers. Ukrainians are not included. They do not have to undergo a regular procedure and can, for example, work faster than asylum seekers waiting for their residence permit.
More than half of the migrants coming to the Netherlands in 2022 were people from other EU countries, as was the average over the past 10 years. Among all EU member states, most migrants came from Poland to the Netherlands.
“Information for a balanced discussion”
According to van der Burgh, “the rapid developments and numerous debates in the field of migration show the importance of good information” and the numbers provide the insights needed “for a balanced discussion and to get the policy right.” The outgoing Minister of State called on municipalities on Friday to arrange more reception places for asylum seekers.
Van der Burgh is still waiting to see whether his dispersal law, which should distribute asylum seekers more evenly across the Netherlands and in some cases could force municipalities to take people in, will win a parliamentary majority.
