24 May 2013
The Netherlands is more likely to give asylum seekers residency papers than the rest of the European Union, according to the head of the Dutch immigration service. In 2012, 13,650 people applied for asylum in the Netherlands, a drop of almost 7% on 2011. The reduction was particularly apparent in the first half. At the same time, the number of people making a second application rose 26%.
Most applicants came from Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The number of requests for naturalisation rose almost 10% compared with 2011 to almost 29,000.
