EUAA, the European Union Asylum Agency, will start assisting Dutch authorities in executing the asylum process starting on February 1.
The move is part of the implementation of the EUAA Operational Plan, which was signed by the Director-General of the IND Rhodia Mass in December 2023. EUAA is present in 12 other European countries, including Belgium, Lithuania, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The assistance that EUAA provides includes about 20 staff members coming from different Member States, with the first experts helping with the processing of applications filed by Syrian asylum seekers.
Based on the country’s policy that is currently applicable, Syrians have a chance for their asylum applications to be approved. During the past month, Syrians were the largest nationality group to apply for most asylum applications – a third of all requests received by Dutch authorities.
Cooperation with the EUAA shows that the IND is making every effort to reduce waiting times and give applicants clarity more quickly so that they know where they stand. Not only will it help to relieve the pressure on the execution of the process, but this cooperation will also contribute to the reciprocal development of knowledge and innovation at both IND and EUAA.
This would not be the first time that EUAA assisted authorities, as since the end of 2022, EUAA experts have been working on asylum reception and counseling in Ter Apel, assisting the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).
In addition, the EUAA has delivered a substantial number of temporary residential units for the accommodation of about 500 asylum seekers.
The number of asylum applications to the Netherlands reached 20,122 in the first half of 2023, increasing from 19,956 applications recorded in the same time in the previous year.
Asylum applications were particularly high in June when 4,020 requests were recorded, compared to 3,597 in May, while the highest volume of applications was recorded during March and June.
This can be related to the rise in asylum applications from third-country nationals with a Ukrainian temporary residence permit seeking protection and asylum in the Netherlands.
Recently, the Dutch government informed that as of March 5, third-country nationals from Ukraine will no longer be permitted to stay in the country, a move that affects some 2,780 people who held a residence permit from Ukraine but are of other nationalities.