Number of asylum claims set to hit new record in 2015

The number of asylum claims in the Netherlands is expected to reach a new record level in 2015, the justice ministry said on Monday.

So far this year 40,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the country, while another 14,000 renewed claims or appeals for family reunification have been made. That is the same number as the previous peak year of 54,000 in 1994, at the height of the Balkan wars.

Last week between 1,000 and 1,100 new claims were made, according to the justice ministry figures That represented a fall from the previous week’s figure of 1,300.