Fewer asylum requests, more following family members in Q1 | Statistics Netherlands (CBS)

More asylum seekers (+ 29 percent) as well as following family members (+62 percent) came to the Netherlands year on year.

Fewer asylum requests from Syrians, but more from Iraqis

Nearly a third of 9 thousand first-time asylum applicants were from Syria (2.9 thousand). That was 39 percent less than in the final quarter of 2023 and 86 percent more relative to one year previously.

More people from Iraq applied for asylum for the first time (1.2 thousand) than in previous quarters; an increase of 80 percent relative to Q4 2023. However, the year-on-year increase was 543 percent. After Syria and Iraq, most first-time asylum applications were submitted by people from Turkey (495) and Yemen (470).

A third of Iraqi asylum seekers were aged under 18

The largest number of people who applied for asylum in Q1 2024 were aged under 35, and a quarter were aged under 18. A third of all asylum applicants from Iraq were minors.

Men are more likely to submit a first-time asylum application. In Q1 2024, three quarters of all applications were made by men. The percentage was higher among those from Syria and Yemen, at 85 and 83 percent, respectively.

 

More family reunification among people from Syria and Yemen

By far the most family member arrivals were from Syria (2.3 thousand out of a total of 3.1 thousand). Other countries from which following family members arrived relatively often were Yemen (225), Turkey (145) and Iraq (85). Year on year, the number from Syria doubled (+ 111 percent), and the number of family member arrivals from Yemen almost tripled (+ 181 percent). In Q1 2024, 6 in 10 following family members were women, while nearly half were aged under 18.