The Dutch government plans to tighten its control over migration. In 2021, 18 foreign citizens were forced to leave the country without the right to reside. This year, the Netherlands has faced a new challenge - the influx of refugees from Ukraine.
State of Migration 2022
Secretary of State Van der Burg sent to the House of Representatives writing on the preparation of the State of Migration 2022 report. We are talking about summing up the results of the previous period and the further development of the migration policy of the Netherlands.
Government position
The government underlines its commitment to a fair, humane and effective asylum and migration policy. And this involves supporting legal migration and limiting illegal migration.
Dynamics of migration
Migration is a dynamic process. Migration-influencing events follow each other at high speed and often influence each other. Factors such as the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrival of evacuees from Afghanistan and temporarily displaced persons from Ukraine have created challenges for asylum seekers through the standard procedure.
Categories of migrants
When we talk about migration in the Netherlands, we mostly mean asylum seekers and the Ter Apel refugee centre. But the concept of migration is broader.
The influx of asylum seekers doesn't come out of nowhere either. It can be predicted long before people arrive in the Netherlands. This is why it is important to look at migration from an international, then a European, and finally a national perspective.
Impact of COVID-19
Strikingly, the number of migrants in 2021 has returned to pre-coronacrisis levels. Earlier in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp drop in migration to the Netherlands.
In 2021, the effects of the pandemic were manifested in the difficulties in returning migrants illegally in the Netherlands to their countries of origin. Many countries required proof of vaccination or a negative test result to enter.
Legal migrants
About a third of the total number of migrants who come to the Netherlands every year are legal migrants from outside the European Union, more than half are from other EU Member States. The influx of asylum seekers averages 12% per year.
Among migrants in 2021, the most were:
- Poles (12%);
- Romanians (6%);
- Syrians (6%).
A total of 2021 asylum applications were submitted in 37, of which:
- 24 initial asylum applications;
- 10 - from relatives (for family reunification);
- 1810 - repeated;
- 540 belong to other categories.
Prospects
It is now becoming more and more clear how great the impact of migration on Dutch society is. For example, the arrival of new migrants creates additional problems in the housing market, which are already numerous.
Migration is the most important factor in the demographic development of the Netherlands. That is why the government is always looking to see if migration is in line with the possibilities and needs of Dutch society now and in the future.
Publication Date: 29.07.2022
