The number of refugees arriving in the Netherlands has slowed again to around 500 a week, junior justice minister Fred Teeven told parliament on Wednesday.

Last month Teeven warned that refugee numbers had surged from 1,000 a month to 1,000 a week. Most of the asylum seekers come from Eritrea and are believed to have travelled to the Netherlands via Italy.

Despite the reduction, the situation is still acute, Teeven said.  It is too early to say why the numbers have gone down or if this is a permanent situation, the minister told MPs.