Dutch asylum numbers a third lower than a year ago
The number of people registering for asylum in the Netherlands has fallen below 600 a week for the first time this year, with weekly figures now around a third lower than during the same period in 2025.
The decline is largely linked to a sharp reduction in family reunification. The number of relatives arriving to join people who already have refugee status has dropped from about 300 a week before the summer to between 110 and 120 a week over the past two weeks.
Syrian nationals account for a significant part of the change. New asylum applications from Syrians fell sharply after the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024. However, overall numbers remained relatively stable because Syrians who already had refugee status continued bringing family members to the Netherlands.
A record 16,500 family members arrived in the Netherlands in 2025, representing a 39% increase from the previous year. Around three-quarters of those arrivals were Syrian, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
The decline also follows the introduction of tighter European Union rules on family reunification in June as part of the European migration pact. The Dutch asylum ministry has not yet provided a specific explanation for the recent drop in family arrivals.
The Netherlands is not alone in seeing fewer asylum applications. The EU asylum agency EUAA reported that the 27 EU member states, together with Norway and Switzerland, received 332,000 applications during the first half of 2026. That was 17% fewer than during the same period a year earlier and the lowest first-half figure since 2021.