The Netherlands has introduced a new asylum seeker law. The majority in the Senate voted in favor of the law. When the law is introduced in a few months, many municipalities will have to try harder than now to find shelters for refugees. This law comes into force at a time to be determined by Royal Decree. The new law will make sure that the asylum seekers are evenly distributed across the country. The government may also force the local authorities to accept a certain number of asylum seekers in their locality.
The reception of asylum seekers sometimes causes problems. For example in Ter Apel in Groningen. Asylum seekers who arrive in the Netherlands must first report there. But the reception center there is overcrowded. Asylum seekers sometimes even had to sleep outside there last summer. The dispersal law must ensure that asylum seekers are better distributed across all municipalities in the Netherlands. Not every municipality now accommodates refugees.
Opponents of the new law believe that municipalities should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to receive asylum seekers or not. Some municipalities do not have money or suitable places to receive refugees.
According to the immigration expert and founder of visa-guru.com, “there have reached 50,000 new asylum seekers in the Netherlands and most of them were the family members of the asylum seekers already present in the country. There have been fewer accommodation opportunities in the asylum reception centers. The government has made major cuts in financial aid to these centers and many have denied accommodating the newly arrived asylum seekers”.
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers is responsible for:
- the material and immaterial reception of asylum seekers;
- placing asylum seekers in a reception facility;
- placing asylum seekers in municipal reception places, as well as paying contributions to the relevant municipality for the costs of this reception;
- work relating to the mediation in the outflow of persons entitled to stay as referred to in Article 1, first paragraph, part g, of the Housing Act 2014 to housing made available by the mayor and aldermen;
- to assign other tasks to the COA by the Minister that are related to the reception of asylum seekers.
How does the asylum system work in the Netherlands?
Anyone applying for asylum in the Netherlands must report to an application center of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). Asylum seekers are then received in a central reception location (COL) of the COA. They receive initial care there.
As soon as asylum seekers enter the asylum procedure, they move from the central reception location to one of the COA process reception locations (POL). If they are referred to the extended asylum procedure in the general asylum procedure, asylum seekers move from the process reception location to an asylum seeker center (azc).
After the asylum procedure, asylum seekers leave the POL or the asylum seekers’ center. If asylum seekers receive a residence permit, they are assigned their own living space in a Dutch municipality. If their asylum application is rejected, they are entitled to reception in an asylum center for a maximum of four weeks. During that time they are prepared for return to their country of origin.