Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
rate during 2002 was about 11 per cent. In 2001, the Netherlands fell to sixth position and ranked
only tenth in 2002 on the list of top asylum receiving countries. 2 The introduction of the new law
in 2000 resulted in a drop in asylum applications by more than half to around 20,000 in 2002,
from 44,000 in 2000. 3
Forced return is regarded as a necessity where rejectees do not cooperate or have committed a
criminal offence or are otherwise considered to be a public threat. The stricter enforcement of
the Aliens Act appeared to lead to an increase in the number of forced returns from the Netherlands.
But in reality the total number of expulsions and supervised departures have continued to
decline.
Type of
Expulsion
TABLE 1
ACTUAL EXPULSIONS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS
254
Year
2000 2001 2002 2003*
Asylum 2,027 2,112 2,276 1,282
Non-asylum
(Including Illegal
Migrants)
7,920 7,386 9,739 6,921
Total 9,947 9,498 12,015 8,203
* Figures for 2003 only cover the first eight months.
Source: Note on Return: Measures for a More Effective Implementation of the
Return Policy, 21 November 2003, Ministry of Justice, p. 10.
Type of
Expulsion
TABLE 1
ACTUAL EXPULSIONS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS
Year
2000 2001 2002 2003*
Asylum 2,027 2,112 2,276 1,282
Non-asylum
(Including Illegal
Migrants)
7,920 7,386 9,739 6,921
Total 9,947 9,498 12,015 8,203
* Figures for 2003 only cover the first eight months.
Source: Note on Return: Measures for a More Effective Implementation of the
Return Policy, 21 November 2003, Ministry of Justice, p. 10.