More asylum seekers and following relatives in Q3

In Q3 2020, the Netherlands received 4,135 first-time asylum applications, 2,870 more than in the previous quarter. As a result of the increase, the number of first-time asylum requests is almost at the level of the first quarter (4,505). Relative to Q3 2019, it is 30 percent lower.

Due to the international and national measures to combat the coronavirus crisis, there were considerably fewer asylum seekers and following family members in Q2. As of April 2020, the month with the lowest number of first-time asylum applications since the start of the series in 2013, the number of first-time requests has risen every month.

Most (1,500) first-time asylum requests in Q3 were submitted in the month of September. The lowest number of submissions was recorded in July, namely 1,205.

Syrians remain the largest group of asylum seekers

Just as in Q1 and Q2 2020, Syrians constituted the largest group of asylum seekers in Q3 as well with 1,370 first-time requests, accounting for one-third of the total. The number of applications by Syrian nationals was therefore nearly four times higher than in the previous quarter. Relative to Q3 2019, the number of Syrian asylum seekers entering the Netherlands was up by 23 percent.

Asylum seekers with Turkish nationality submitted 450 asylum applications in Q3, nine more than in the previous quarter. The number of requests from Moroccan and Algerian nationals stood at 245 each, three times as many as in Q2 for both groups.

The nationality of 185 people who applied for asylum was unknown.

Number of following relatives up

In Q3 2020, the number of following family members rose to 855. This is over three times as many as in Q2, but still around 30 percent less than in the same quarter last year. Of the following relatives in Q3, 355 were Syrian nationals. In addition, 165 Turkish nationals received an asylum permit.

Following relatives are family members of asylum permit holders who have obtained a provisional residence permit, have actually entered the Netherlands and have received a residence permit after entry.

Due to the COVID-19 measures, embassies closed or limited many of their consular services in Q2. This included suspending the issuance of provisional residence permits. International travel to the European Union was also limited or impossible. In Q3, consular services were gradually made available again. Borders were gradually reopened as well.