The Dutch Senate has approved two laws tightening asylum procedures, one abolishing financial penalties paid to asylum seekers when decisions on their applications are delayed, and the other allowing the detention of certain individuals whose applications have been rejected and who fail to return to their countries of origin.
The approval followed proposals submitted by Dutch Minister for Asylum and Migration Bart van den Brink, who announced his intention to begin implementing the measures within a week, according to the Dutch newspaper NL Times on Wednesday, October 14.
By September, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) had paid approximately 112 million euros in financial penalties to asylum seekers who had waited more than six months, the statutory period for processing their applications.
The IND is also facing a substantial backlog of applications, according to the Dutch newspaper, with many procedures taking longer than the prescribed timeframe.
Under the second law, the Senate voted in favor of an amendment allowing the detention of individuals who do not hold residence permits and refuse to leave the Netherlands, ensuring they remain available for deportation.
Van den Brink described the new laws as a significant improvement to the asylum system, while the IND welcomed the changes concerning financial penalties.
IND Director Rhodia Maas said the penalties were originally introduced to encourage the agency to process applications more quickly. In practice, however, they have increased pressure, costs, and workloads without achieving their intended goal of accelerating decisions.
Maas added that asylum seekers are forced to endure lengthy periods of uncertainty about their status. She acknowledged that they have the right to have their applications processed within the legally established deadlines but argued that the financial penalty system does not help achieve this objective.
The Netherlands’ Approach to the Return of Syrians
The Dutch government has announced plans to significantly increase its contribution to Syria’s reconstruction efforts while encouraging Syrian refugees to return to their homeland after years of war.
According to the Dutch minister, European countries and the Syrian government share an interest in encouraging Syrians to return and help rebuild their country.
While the German government hopes to see approximately 80% of Syrian refugees return, based on figures previously cited and later walked back by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Van den Brink declined to set a similar target for the Netherlands. He explained that the real objective is to encourage Syrians to seriously consider returning and contributing to reconstruction, rather than reducing the discussion to numerical targets.
According to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, approximately 945 Syrians left the Netherlands and returned to their homeland last year. The Dutch government provides financial assistance to returnees of 5,000 euros per adult and 2,500 euros per minor.
More than 150,000 people of Syrian origin currently live in the Netherlands, many of whom arrived as refugees over the past decade, according to the newspaper.
The Dutch newspaper added that a large number of Syrians in the Netherlands are still awaiting decisions on their asylum applications.
Meanwhile, the minister indicated that a significant number of pending Syrian asylum applications are currently being rejected due to the noticeable improvement in conditions inside Syria, while acknowledging that the country’s reconstruction process continues to face major challenges.