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THE NETHERLANDS
1. INVOLUNTARY RETURN
1.1 POLICY
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THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands has traditionally attracted large numbers of foreigners, many without a legal
right of entry or residence. This has given rise to considerable public debate about migration in
recent years and a stronger focus by successive governments on return migration. The authorities
have for some time been concerned with the need to return failed asylum seekers and other
migrants in irregular circumstances to their countries of origin or safe third countries.
In 2000, the government introduced the Aliens Act 2000 1 to reform the legal status of migrants
through more stringent and shortened procedures for asylum seekers. The aim of the revision
was to simplify and accelerate the processing of asylum applications, in order to reduce stateprovided
benefits and reception costs.
Since then, policy-makers have tried to effectively enforce the Act through removal and repatriation
of illegal aliens from the territory, and have anticipated a complementary integration programme
for select asylum seekers in 2004. The current government is pursuing a more tightly
managed asylum process by announcing new legislation to enable it to deport a large number of
long-staying asylum seekers not approved for resident status over the next three years.
Before 2002, the Netherlands experienced several years of high economic growth, which
resulted in significant social changes and also saw a reduction in economic activities. Rising
public anxiety about immigration, coupled with an insufficiently funded police force, were key
determinants of the Dutch immigration policy. In the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks
in the USA, and the threat of public security posed by terrorists, public debate on immigration
became more radical, and certain categories of immigrants were perceived as potential terrorists.
In the run-up to the general elections in 2003, there were heated public debates on immigration
policy, which some critics attributed to an over-emphasis in Dutch immigration law and policy
on control, security and restriction, rather than on assessing actual immigration needs.
The stricter immigration policy approach, particularly towards irregular migrants, aims at discouraging
potential migrants from entering the Netherlands in the first place and encouraging
those who wish to return to repatriate to their countries of origin or to a third country.
In 2000, the Netherlands was the fourth biggest asylum receiving country. Since then, stricter
immigration policies have led to progressive reductions in asylum applications. The number of
asylum requests in 2001 was 32,579; in 2002, 18,667 and in 2003, 13,400. The asylum approval