The Netherlands rejected 56 percent more asylum applications in 2025 than the previous year, with refusals outnumbering approvals for the first time. Meanwhile, municipalities across the country are struggling to find housing for large refugee families, some with nine or more members, as the backlog of status holders waiting for permanent homes continues to grow.
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) released figures showing that the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) made decisions on 15,600 first-time asylum applications in 2025, rejecting 8,100 and approving 7,400. The total number of decisions fell 27 percent compared to 2024, despite efforts to speed up processing.
Syria effect
The sharp decline in approvals is largely due to the changed situation in Syria. Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the Netherlands paused processing Syrian asylum claims for six months. When decisions resumed in mid-2025, the IND determined that Syria was now safe enough for most applicants to return.
In 2024, the IND processed 10,700 Syrian applications and approved 95 percent. In 2025, it handled just 390, approving only 28 percent. The number of Syrians granted refugee status collapsed from 2,900 to 30, while those receiving subsidiary protection fell from 7,200 to 25.
For non-Syrian applicants, rejections rose 67 percent compared to the previous year. The IND has also tightened its approach to applicants from Turkey, Iraq and Yemen, requiring them to demonstrate individual risk rather than relying on membership of a particular group.
The approval rate for all first-time applications has plummeted from around 80 percent a few years ago to just 35 percent in the twelve months to October 2025, according to earlier IND figures. The Netherlands, once among the EU countries with the highest recognition rates, now ranks in the middle of the pack at 14th place.
Compensation bill doubles
The IND paid €79 million in compensation to asylum seekers in 2025 for failing to process their applications within the legal time limit, more than double the €36.8 million paid in 2024. Under Dutch law, applicants can petition the court for a penalty payment if no decision is reached within 18 months, typically set at €15,000 per person.
At the end of 2025, around 51,000 people were still waiting for their claims to be assessed. The average processing time has stretched beyond a year, and the IND has said targets are unlikely to be met in 2026 either. Legal proceedings against the IND rose from 89,320 in 2024 to 110,990 in 2025.
Large families stuck in limbo
Once asylum seekers receive a residence permit, they become status holders and are assigned to a municipality for housing. But cities across the Netherlands are finding it increasingly difficult to accommodate large families.
A survey by De Telegraaf of five major and eight medium-sized municipalities, from Maastricht to Groningen, found more than 170 families of six or more members waiting for housing. In Delft, officials reported that homes for large families are "very rarely available," leaving several families of more than seven members on the social housing waiting list.
Municipalities are legally required to provide suitable, affordable housing for all status holders assigned to them. The national government sets quotas every six months, and the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) assigns residents to local authorities. But with the Dutch housing market under severe pressure, finding properties large enough for families with many children has become a major challenge.
Many large families must wait several years for housing. About a quarter of the spots in asylum centres are occupied by status holders who have received permits but are still waiting for permanent homes.
Creative solutions
Some municipalities are resorting to expensive measures. Maastricht is using a €2.5 million subsidy to reduce rent for nine large families over twelve years. Eindhoven and Amersfoort have also subsidised rents to meet affordability limits. The municipality of Oude IJsselstreek purchased a house for €469,000 to accommodate a ten-member family, with seven bedrooms and a large garden.
Caretaker Asylum Minister Mona Keijzer has authorised placing some status holders in hotels within their assigned municipalities to reduce the backlog. Rotterdam said it fulfilled its full legal quota last year, accommodating more than 1,000 status holders, while other municipalities managed to find housing for 165 large families in 2025.
The housing difficulties come as municipalities are also delaying decisions on new asylum centres ahead of the March 2026 local elections, with the issue expected to dominate campaigns in many areas.
