Netherlands: Over 7000 People Filed a First Asylum Application in Second Quarter of 2022
This means that there has been marked a total of 9 per cent increase in the number of asylum applications compared to the figures of the previous quarter, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
According to the data provided by the CBS, there has also been noted an increase in the number of persons arriving in connection with family reunification, to over 3 thousand. At the same time, 15 Ukrainians, as well as 170 Russians, requested asylum for the first time in the Netherlands.
In addition, in the second quarter of this year, a total of 7,050 people filed their first asylum application, which is 565 up compared to the previous quarter and over twice the number recorded during the time that governments kept in place strict measures, including entry rules and travel bans in order to contain the further spread of the virus. The figures show that in the second half of 2019, there were 5,190 first-time asylum applications.
The figures provided by CBS show that citizens from the following countries account for the majority number of applications filed for asylum in the Netherlands:
- Syria
- Turkey
- Afghanistan
- Somalia
The majority of applications in the Netherlands in the second quarter of this year were filed by Syrians or a total of 2,260. In addition, the number of Turkish asylum seekers also almost doubled compared to the figures from the first quarter, to 695. At the same time, after Turks and Syrians, citizens from Afghanistan also accounted for a large number of asylum applications filed in the Netherlands, followed by Somali nationals.
According to the figures provided by Statistics Netherlands, there were a total of 3,140 family member arrivals in the second quarter, or 585 more compared to the first quarter, marking a total of 23 per cent increase.
“Relative to Q2 2021, the number of following relatives increased by 21 percent. The majority of these family members are from Syria (71 per cent), representing an increase of 28 per cent in the previous quarter,” the statement reads.
The majority of the family members are from the following countries:
- Syria
- Turkey
- Eritrea
- Yemen
The spread of the Coronavirus and its new strains led to a significant decrease in the number of asylum applications in 2020 and 2021; however, the figures show that soon after the abolishment of travel restrictions, more people began to seek asylum in the Netherlands, in the first half of this year.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also led to an increase in the number of applications in the first quarter of this year.
“Ukrainians are not obliged to apply for asylum in order to stay and work in the Netherlands, but some of them did so in the first quarter. As a result, the number of asylum applications from Ukraine has now returned to the level it was before March 2022. In the second quarter of 2022, a total of 15 Ukrainians submitted an asylum request,” the statement reads.
At the same time, the number of Russians seeking asylum in the Netherlands also marked a notable increase this year.
