Dutch authorities have warned that refugees may have to be housed in shipping containers while their asylum applications are considered – a process that is currently about a year.
The Netherlands registered a record number of asylum seekers in September as the flow of migrants to Europe, mainly Syrians fleeing war, continues to surge.
“The number of asylum seekers registered in the country reached a record number of 8,400 last month,” the Central Statistics Office (CBS) said, adding that it was the highest number ever recorded since authorities started counting in 1975. The majority – some 5,200 – of those registering were fleeing Syria, followed by Eritrea and Iraq.
The Netherlands, one of Europe’s most densely-populated countries with nearly 17 million inhabitants, has now received some 24,000 asylum seekers since April, almost as many as in the whole of last year, the CBS said.
Over the coming two years, the Netherlands plans to take in more than 7,000 people as EU nations share out the burden in Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II.
As in other European countries, tensions are flaring in the Netherlands over the crisis. At least one refugee centre has been attacked, prompting strong condemnation by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The far-right party of anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders has also seen a spike in popularity in recent weeks.
Dutch Deputy Justice Minister Klaas Dijkhoff this week in an open letter to asylum seekers warned they would receive an “austere reception” in the Netherlands.
More than 600,000 migrants and refugees, mainly fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have braved the dangerous journey to Europe’s shores so far this year. The trip that most have made on inflatable boats from Turkey to Greece has left over 3,000 dead or missing. The goal for many, the EU’s biggest economy Germany, where asylum seekers are being housed in a part of the Nazi-era Buchenwald concentration camp, expects to take in up to one million refugees this year.
