The Netherlands has seen a marked decline in asylum applications from several Arab countries, according to new figures released by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) in its monthly Asylum Trends report.
Most notably, applications from Syrians dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2025, with only 940 new requests filed — a stark contrast to the 2,901 applications received during the same period last year.
This decrease is linked to dramatic political developments in Syria following the ousting of long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad by Islamist forces in December 2024. With the regime change, many Syrians who previously fled violence are now either staying in the region or reconsidering their options.
A similar pattern has emerged among asylum seekers from Iraq and Yemen, whose numbers fell from 1,191 to 111 and from 471 to 83, respectively, over the same period.
Despite the drop in first-time asylum claims, the overall influx of asylum seekers has not decreased as quickly. This is largely due to a rise in family reunification, particularly among Syrians. In the first quarter of 2025, over 3,000 Syrian family members joined relatives who were granted asylum in the Netherlands — up from 2,311 last year.
Meanwhile, applications from people coming from “safe countries,” where there is no widespread conflict or persecution, remain high. These include Morocco and Egypt, where the Dutch government considers asylum claims to have minimal merit.
Even with declining numbers, the Dutch asylum system remains under immense pressure. The IND, under the Ministry of Asylum and Migration, continues to deal with a severe backlog and an ongoing shortage of accommodation. As a temporary measure, thousands of asylum seekers are being housed in hotels and even on cruise ships — a policy that has come under fire for its cost and optics.
Dutch political commentator Marianne Zwagerman recently wrote in De Telegraaf that Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber has been allocated billions in the Spring Memorandum to pay for temporary housing, with hotel rates reportedly exceeding €300 per night. “Some 10,000 asylum seekers now endlessly vacation in extremely expensive hotel rooms,” she wrote, claiming over 100 hospitality businesses are benefiting from the arrangement.
The situation has fueled public anger in some communities as asylum accommodation spills out into rural areas. In March, protests erupted in Berlicum over the planned construction of an asylum center that would house up to 270 refugees. Demonstrators threw eggs at the town hall, launched fireworks, and later hung pigs’ feet on the fence near the proposed site. The local action group “Nee tegen azc” (No to Asylum Seekers’ Center) organized the protest, drawing hundreds of angry residents.
Tensions have also flared in smaller villages like Doezum in the province of Groningen, where a plan to house 100 status holders in new chalets was announced without any public consultation. “My 25-year-old son has been trying to find a place to live for years, but there’s nothing available,” a local resident told De Telegraaf. “Yet housing for people from far away appears overnight. How is that fair?”
These developments come amid promises by the new center-right government, led by Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), to enforce what it calls the “strictest asylum policy ever.” Minister Faber (PVV) has vowed sweeping reforms aimed at overhauling the Dutch asylum law. Proposed changes include scrapping automatic permanent residency after five years, creating a dual-track asylum system based on the severity of individual claims, and restricting family reunification rights for adult children and unmarried partners.
Additionally, the ministry aims to boost deportation powers, construct detention centers for failed applicants, reinstate internal border checks within the Schengen Area, and abolish laws that distribute asylum seekers across municipalities.
Though these plans have faced criticism from the Council of State, the government’s top advisory body, Faber has shown little interest in compromise. “Maybe a point and a comma, but that’s it,” she said, brushing off the Council’s concerns. “I am convinced that my lawyers have made a good proposal. The advice is not binding — I can do what I want with it.”
Wilders was quick to leap on the declining figures as evidence of the government’s progress in tackling the crisis.
“The PVV governs and the PVV delivers,” he wrote on X.
Other users were quick to suggest that this was not the “Faber-effect” but more the “Syria-effect,” with first-time asylum claims from the country dropping sharply and the government’s asylum plans not yet in force.
