Statistics Netherlands (CBS) follows asylum seekers that have arrived in the Netherlands since 2014 as well as those that have received an asylum residence permit since 2014, including family reunification applicants and their family members. This sixth edition of the annual report on this group provides insights into the inflows of asylum seekers at COA reception centres and the composition of the latest status holder group, from 2014 to the first half of 2021. It also provides an up-to-date account of how those who have received an asylum residence permit since 2014 are faring.

Information presented in the report relates to inflow and outflow numbers at COA reception centres, the waiting period for an asylum residence permit, housing, civic integration, household composition, family reunification, education, naturalisation, work and income, health care service usage and crime. The study was commissioned by the Dutch Ministries of Justice and Security and Social Affairs and Employment.

Recent developments in the latest inflow and duration of stay of asylum seekers at COA reception centres include:

• annual inflow at COA reception centres decreased in 2020 – the total intake of asylum seekers at these centres over the first six months of 2020 was lower than in previous years. The influx at COA shelters over the first half of 2021 was slightly higher than in 2020. The decrease in the first half of 2020 was a result of COVID-19, when restrictive border measures were introduced in many countries of origin as well as in the Netherlands. Asylum hearings and court decisions were also not able to take place, and asylum seekers were placed in emergency shelters instead of COA shelters.
• increased number of asylum seekers from Yemen – especially since 2020. In 2018 Turkey became one of the top five nationalities with the largest population in COA shelters.
• increase in number of family reunification applications – particularly from Syrians and Eritreans. Among Syrian asylum seekers, the share (and absolute number) of relatives joining via family reunification declined between 2016 and 2020 (from 65 % to 25 %). 53 % of Syrians arriving in the first half of 2021 were following family members already in the Netherlands.
• relatively large shares of young men – To date, over three-quarters of all asylum seekers are still under the age of 35 at the time of arrival in the Netherlands. A noteworthy trend is that the share of men rose to 67 % in 2020, approaching the level of 2014.
• almost as many women as men arrive from Syria – the share of (young) men in this group rose to 68 % in 2020. In 2016–2017, women and young children were slighter higher in number than in previous years. In the first half of 2021, 55 % of applicants for family reunification were male.
• fewer single Syrian men, fewer Eritrean children – in 2020, 42 % of all asylum seekers travelled to the Netherlands as part of a family. This share stood at 59 % in 2017, and 54 % in the first half of 2021. Between 2020 and 2021 the share of single men among Syrian asylum seekers again fell, and the share of children decreased among Eritreans.
• fewer relocations during first six months of stay at a COA shelter – asylum seekers who arrived at COA shelters in the period 2015–2016 moved to a different reception centre slightly more than once on average during the initial six months of their stay. For those arriving in 2014, the figure was 1.7. Since then, the number of relocations during the initial 6-month period has seen a gradual decline.
• fewer people receiving residence permit within 12 months – in 2018 and 2019, for all nationalities combined, the share that obtained a temporary asylum residence permit within 12 months dropped. Only asylum seekers from Turkey arriving in 2019 show a small increase in the number of temporary residence permits granted relative to the previous year.

This online report can be accessed here.