Ministerie van Justitie, Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst

On the recommendation of State Secretary for Justice Albayrak, the Cabinet has agreed to the submission to the Lower House of the report on the immigration process, which relates to the second half of 2007. Implementation of the general amnesty and the prompt processing of new applications meant that asylum applications pending with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), the Council for the Judiciary and the Council of State fell by 47 percent in 2007. The number of Regular applications still pending fell by 48 percent across the entire chain. The IND was able to eliminate the backlogs in Regular applications last year. As a result, the IND has been more successful in processing new residence applications within the statutory period applicable for this.

Historic low in asylum applications
With 9,800 applications in 2007, the total asylum influx for this year is historically low. However, an increase in the number of asylum applications was evident in the second half of the year, mainly as a result of applications from Iraqis and Somalis. A categorical protection policy applies for asylum seekers from these countries, because of the situation in these countries of origin. In the second half of 2007, the application centres handled an average of 760 applications a month, as opposed to 645 applications a month in the first half of the same year. Due to continuing instability in Somalia and Iraq, the expectation is that this trend will continue in 2008 and that the influx of asylum seekers will increase.

European trend
The increase in applications from Iraqis is in line with a European trend. Up to September 2007, approximately 28,000 Iraqis had submitted asylum applications in European member states. In this period, the Netherlands received more than 1,000 applications from Iraq and, as such, is sixth in the top ten of receiving countries.

Occupancy of asylum centres
Occupancy of asylum centres fell slightly in 2007. On 1 January 2008, approximately 23,000 people were being accommodated,, which is 8 percent less than on 1 January 2007. However, occupancy fell less quickly than expected. One of the reasons for this is the higher level of influx in the second half of 2007, which is putting great pressure on efforts to find new sites for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers. In the second half of 2007, approximately 6,800 foreign nationals left these centres. Of these foreign nationals, 42 percent received a permit under the general amnesty.

Regular residence permits
Over the whole of 2007, the number of applications for Regular residence permits was 29 percent lower than in 2006. One of the reasons indicated for this is the effect of the so-called M50 desks, where applications without any prospect of success can be immediately diverted from further processing in the application system. The repatriation process for these foreign nationals can then be started immediately.

Repatriation and Departure Service
In the report period, approximately 5,850 foreign nationals demonstrably left the Netherlands. This is 55 percent of the total outflux from the repatriation process, which is an increase of 5 percent in comparison with the first half of 2007. In the period from July to December 2007, the Repatriation and Departure Service started approximately 7,500 departure proceedings.