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National Asylum Developments Database

 

The National Asylum Developments Database presents legislative, institutional and policy developments related to asylum since 2018.

Searches can be narrowed down by:

  • Country
  • Year
  • Type of development: legislative, institutional or policy 
  • Thematic area: access to procedure, access to information, legal assistance and representation, interpretation services, special procedures, procedures at first instance, reception of applicants for international protection, detention, procedures at second instance, country of origin information, statelessness in the asylum context, content of protection, return of former applicants, resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes.

Details on each development and further analysis can be consulted in the Asylum Report series.
 

Types of policies and practices reported in the National Asylum Developments Database

The National Asylum Developments Database can be searched by institutional, legislative and policy changes. There are three types of policy developments:

Policies and practices related to the integrity of national asylum systems aim to swiftly identify unfounded asylum applications and ensure that financial, human and administrative resources are not dissipated on such claims. These measures involve efforts to rapidly establish an applicant’s identity, including age, country of origin, travel route and security concerns if any. These facts help to better assess the credibility of the applicant’s statements and determine whether beneficiaries of international protection are still in need of protection. The prevention of unintentional misuse of the asylum procedure and its integrity are also supported by the provision of information to asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international protection on their respective rights and obligations and related procedural arrangements.

Policies and practices that improve the efficiency of national asylum systems include digitalisation and the use of new technologies in the framework of asylum, prioritising or fast-tracking applications, the re-organisation of the procedure itself or implementing changes in the number of staff employed.

Policy and practice aiming to enhance the quality of national asylum systems contribute to increasing fairness, integrity and efficiency. Quality assurance systems, guidance materials and capacity-building measures typically pay off on the initial investment and efforts. The initiatives include staff training, revising existing guidance materials and monitoring the quality of the decisions delivered.

The database presents validated factual information and does not imply any endorsement from the European Commission or EUAA.

Flag Country Sort ascending Year Type of development Thematic area Development Source
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The COA significantly increased the number of reception places. It expressed several times the urgent need for more places. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The task force managing the asylum backlog was integrated into the IND. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The policy was adjusted on the assessment of the cases of persons from Turkey, who are active in politics, journalism or human rights. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance A decision and departure moratorium was issued for Afghan nationals and ethnic Tigrayans from Ethiopia. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy The Dublin procedure The Dublin procedure New work instructions were published on when and how a case officer should request advice from the Medical Advisory Office to assess an applicant’s aptitude to travel. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy Special procedures to assess protection needs Special procedures to assess protection needs The simplified procedure (Track 2), equivalent to the accelerated procedure, was extended to other categories of applicants. EUAA Asylum Report 2022
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Access to procedure icon Access to procedure The Aliens Circular set in law the practice that an applicant is under the duty to provide all information that might potentially influence the asylum application, which includes criminal past, acts that might fall under the Geneva Convention, Article 1F and any measures that other Member States might have imposed on the person. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative The Dublin procedure The Dublin procedure The Aliens Circular was amended to reflect CJEU jurisprudence in Jawo and clarified when an applicant can be considered to have absconded. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The temporary law suspending the incremental penalty payments was passed and applicants are no longer entitled to compensation when the IND does not decide on their case within 6 months. The law will be in force for a year. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance A draft decree would revise and shorten the Dutch regular asylum procedure from 8 days to 6 days. The draft underwent a public consultation process by the end of November 2020. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The policy on sur place refugees was clarified, based on the jurisprudence of the Council of State. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance Further guidance was added on how to interpret the element political conviction: it is clarified that the applicant cannot be expected to exercise restraint on his/her fundamental political views, which may be actions or expressions that are particularly important for the person's identity or moral integrity. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection The Alien Circular 2000 now explicitly states that the IND has to always include in the decision on family reunification all indicative statements and documents, and in some cases, further examination may be initiated. When a contradiction leads to no further investigation, this has to be motivated. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2022 Legislative Statelessness in the context of asylum Statelessness in the context of asylum A bill was passed for a new stateless determination procedure and another bill amended the Dutch Nationality Act to allow stateless children to apply for naturalisation after 5 years of habitual residence. The bills still need to be adopted by the Senate. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2019 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection The number of reception places was substantially increased. The Minister for Migration announced the creation of 5 000 additional places. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2019 Policy Reception of applicants for international protection Reception of applicants for international protection Applicants become entitled to non-emergency health care treatments after two months from registration. The differentiation on access to health care is not based on the reception location of stay anymore but only on the length of the applicant’s stay in the Netherlands. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2019 Policy Content of protection Content of protection Municipalities in the Netherlands received an additional EUR 40 million for 2019 and 2020 to become more involved in the counselling of beneficiaries of international protection in their civic integration and language learning. The additional resources also aim to help municipalities orient themselves towards their directing role in the new civic integration system in order to promote a smooth transition to the new system. EASO Asylum Report 2020
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2022 Policy Special procedures to assess protection needs Special procedures to assess protection needs Following the decision of the Council of State, all groups that were paid special attention in Track 2 were excluded from the safe country of origin designation. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The time limit for deciding on an application for international protection was extended by 9 months. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The recruitment of staff for the authorities in the migration chain continued throughout 2022. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2022 Policy Processing asylum applications at first instance Processing asylum applications at first instance The moratorium on decisions and departures for Afghan applicants ended, and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) resumed the decision process on a case-by-case basis. EUAA Asylum Report 2023
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The Aliens Circular was amended and clarified that when a child is born after a parent has received a return decision, even though the child is subject to an independent return decision, the period of voluntary return is aligned to the parents' decision and expires at the same time. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Return of former applicants Return of former applicants The time limit for announcing the exact date of the forced removal is shortened from 48 hours to 36 hours (Article A3/6). The announcement can be omitted if there is a risk that the prior announcement would endanger the safety or health of the person or the family members. If the departure cannot take place, a new option is sought, and if the removal can take place within 2 days from the original date, a new prior notice is not necessary. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2020 Legislative Content of protection Content of protection Further clarifications were provided for the assessment of family reunification for beneficiaries of international protection. For example, the fact that the family members were not named during the asylum procedure is not in itself a ground to reject family reunification, but it can be taken into account when assessing the actual family link. For foster children, the biological parents' identity and the foster parent's family link to the biological parents always need to be clarified. When the biological parents are still present, the link between a foster child and foster parents can only be recognised for family reunification under very exceptional circumstances. EASO Asylum Report 2021
Netherlands Flag Netherlands 2021 Policy Access to procedure icon Access to procedure The control boards (regietafel) moved to the next implementation phase and continued to ensure that all information is available on the specific individual cases, before they entered the phase of the regular procedure. EUAA Asylum Report 2022