Sharp drop in refugees from Syria, new arrivals total falls

Syrians do not account for the largest group of refugees coming to the Netherlands for the first time since 2016, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday.

In the second quarter of this year, 5,295 people applied for asylum, up around 800 on the first quarter, but well down on the 7,800 who applied a year ago, the CBS said.

The number of applications is always higher in the second quarter, CBS researcher Luuk Hovius told broadcaster NOS. This, he said, is probably because the weather makes it easier to flee.

The number of Eritrean nationals applying for asylum quadrupled to 1,200, while the number of Syrians fell by 78% to 595. Some 310 Turkish nationals also applied for asylum in the Netherlands.

Fewer Syrians have been applying for refugee status since the fall of the Assad regime last year. But Syrians did account for two-thirds of the family members applying to join close relatives already in the Netherlands, the CBS figures show.

One third of the refugees are below the age of 18, but that rises to two-thirds among Eritreans.