The Dutch authorities have announced that in recent months, around 250 nuisance-causing asylum seekers in Ter Apel have had their applications rejected faster than usual.
According to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) of the Netherlands, a special team has been set up to reject faster nuisance-causing asylum seekers from safe countries and nationalities that have a high rejection rate.
“To reject nuisance-causing asylum seekers in Ter Apel quickly, the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V) and the IND are working together closely, with the support of the police,” the statement of IND reads.
As IND explains, the authorities want to increase the number of applications they process, with them aiming to process around 40 applications per week by nuisance-causing asylum seekers.
It also wants to prioritise the identification as well as registration of nuisance-causing asylum seekers so that the authorities can take measures as soon as possible when needed.
“Shortly afterwards, the IND schedules the interview. After the decision, the DT&V prioritises these cases for the departure procedure. If necessary, courts also prioritise appeal cases by these nuisance-causing people,” IND added.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the authorities stressed that disruptive behaviour is not tolerated throughout the process.
The same highlighted that the primary objective of such an approach is to discourage as well as promptly reject asylum seekers who engage in nuisance-causing behaviour, lack a valid asylum claim, and abuse the hospitality offered in the country.
According to the authorities, among many others, applicants staying in Ter Apel who commit shoplifting will go through the accelerated process and have their asylum applications rejected.
In such a case, the asylum seekers are immediately given a letter saying that their asylum procedure begins right away. The interview takes place immediately after, and applicants receive a decision and are required to leave the country.
Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the Netherlands is struggling to handle the increasing number of applications from asylum seekers.
IND said a couple of months ago that the country’s system is unable to process a large number of applications within the legal period, stressing that the number of applications filed by skilled migrants and international students is also increasing.
Commenting on the matter, the General Director of IND, Rhodia Maas, said that for some time now, the Service has been receiving many more applications than it is equipped to process.
The same noted that changes need to be made to the system so that the authorities do not have to deal with such issues.
