The government is starting to alleviate the pressure on the asylum seeker processing system
Today the government took a first step towards further alleviating pressure on the asylum seeker processing system. It is introducing a coherent package of measures to encourage new forms of housing, which will also free up homes for residence permit holders. The guiding principle here is to create equal opportunities for everyone who is looking for a home and promote self-reliance among residence permit holders. In addition to this coherent package, the government has been working on several measures to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving in the country and on an amendment to the Housing Allocation Act 2014 (Huisvestingswet 2014), to prohibit priority being given solely on the basis of residence status. Minister Keijzer (asylum and migration and housing and spatial planning) and Minister Nobel (participation and integration) explain the various measures in a letter to both chambers.
In the words of Minister Keijzer, “The aim is to normalise the position of residence permit holders. That is why the government is committed to ensuring that residence permit holders have to find suitable housing in the same way as other Dutch citizens. Every resident of the Netherlands who is looking for a home should have equal opportunities when it comes to finding one. The proposal helps solve the housing shortage as well as the shortage of reception places for asylum seekers.”
Minister Nobel adds, “We want residence permit holders to learn Dutch as soon as possible, find employment and commit to becoming integrated into Dutch society while also subscribing to the standards and values of our open and free society. The government is continuing to work on achieving this goal because it is very important for residence permit holders to integrate as quickly as possible.
Temporary and shared accommodation
A quarter of the reception capacity provided by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers, COA) is currently being used to accommodate people who already have permission to stay in the Netherlands (residence permit holders). This is putting considerable pressure on the agency’s capacity. With a view to solving this problem the government is working to create additional housing options that can be used by other people looking for housing besides residence permit holders. One of those options is rooms with shared facilities. The government’s aim is to create equal opportunities for everyone who is looking for a home. Building homes for multiple target groups should also increase support among the public, thereby allowing housing to be constructed in a larger number of locations.
Sufficient stable and affordable support
The Netherlands is home to 73,500 people who are entitled to COA support. Of that group, 36,750 people are accommodated in regular reception centres. Approximately 30,000 live in emergency accommodation and 6,800 people are staying with friends or relatives, or in municipal accommodation.
Almost all accommodation places that have already been created are governed by long-term agreements with municipalities. These reception places should be flexible in the sense that it must be possible to cancel or convert them into accommodation for other groups, such as those who need emergency accommodation (within the municipality) and residence permit holders. More places will become available for those groups if the number of asylum seekers decreases and vice versa. This approach will enable expensive emergency accommodation to be phased out and will limit the financial risks.
Targeted flexible scheme
The government is exploring the possibility of introducing a targeted flexible scheme which would create accommodation places which residence permit holders can move out to, subject to the ban on them being given priority in the subsidised rental sector. One of the ways this is being done is by working with other parties to investigate whether successful co-living initiatives for single residence permit holders can be scaled up. Efforts are also underway to simplify arrangements to provide flexible and affordable reception places. Municipalities must be able to provide long-term accommodation which can be used by a variety of target groups (depending on need). At one particular point in time this target group could, for example, be Ukrainian refugees, while at another it could comprise people who need emergency accommodation at local level. By adopting this approach the government's aim is to create more accommodation while reducing the long-term use of expensive cruise ships or hotel rooms.
Language, integration and employment
The government also wants residence permit holders to learn Dutch faster and start working sooner in order to improve their integration. At the same time, the government intends to scrap the housing target for residence permit holders. This will have significant implications for the functioning of the current integration system. For this reason the government is investigating how and within which timeframe these consequences can be mitigated so that the integration system can continue to function properly. It is also going to look at how language teaching can become more flexible, for example online, and how reception centres can facilitate this more effectively by providing study rooms and learning resources.
These measures are going to be developed in more detail over the next six months in consultation with the provincial and municipal authorities, housing associations and COA.