Fewer asylum seekers and dependants in early 2022

In Q1 2022, a total of 6,485 asylum seekers submitted a first-time asylum application. This is down by 3,385, i.e. -35 percent on the previous quarter. The largest decline was visible among Syrians. Their number was still nearly 4 thousand in Q4 2021, before it dropped to 640 in Q1 2022.

The two largest groups after Syrians were Afghans (270) and Yemenites (525) . The number of asylum requests by Afghans fell from 1,095 in Q4 2021 to 720 in Q1 2022. By far the highest number of applications was submitted in March (500), due to the evacuation flights taking place that month.

More first asylum requests in March

Compared to the end of 2021, the number of asylum applications was down in January and February 2022. It went up again in March. That month saw almost as many first-time applications (2,920) as January and February combined (1,960 and 1,600 requests respectively).

Fewer following relatives

In Q1, the number of following family members stood at 2,555. This was 675 down on the previous quarter (-21 percent). However, it is still relatively high; in the period 2018 up to the first half of 2021 inclusive, fewer dependants came to the Netherlands in each consecutive quarter.

The decline in following relatives is almost entirely on account of Syrian nationals, of whom 1,745 came to the Netherlands, 500 (-22 percent) fewer than in the previous quarter. The numbers of Turkish and stateless dependants remained stable compared to the previous quarter at 140 and 135 respectively.

Family reunification from Eritrea and Yemen declined to 95 and 90, respectively. The number of dependants from Afghanistan remains low for the time being at a few dozen per month.

International developments

During the pandemic lockdowns in 2020-2021, the number of first-time asylum applications and following relatives decreased, and subsequently went up again after travel restrictions were lifted. This catch-up effect also continued in the first quarter of 2022.

Due to the war in Ukraine, an increase was also seen in the number of Ukrainian first-time asylum applications in this quarter. People from Ukraine are not obliged to apply for asylum in order to stay, although some of them do. In the period 2019-2021, an average of 20 persons from Ukraine submitted an application for the first time each quarter. In Q1 2022, this group consisted of 75 persons, most of whom applied in March (50).

An increase in asylum requests was also seen among applicants from Russia: 120 in Q1 2022. On average, 65 asylum applications were received from people from Russia in each quarter of the period 2019-2021.