European migration pact “no guarantee” of fewer refugees

The Dutch immigration service will need “around a year” to fully implement the European migration pact which comes into effect on Friday, the agency’s director Rhodia Maas has told the Telegraaf.

In addition, she told the paper, there are no guarantees the pact will lead to fewer asylum seekers coming to the Netherlands.

The pact introduces faster assessment procedures, setting a six-month limit unless there are “extraordinary circumstances”. It also brings in a two-tier system for refugees, differentiating between people fleeing war and those fleeing persecution.

The IND has already said it will prioritise new arrivals for assessment, meaning thousands of people in refugee centres will have to wait even longer for their cases to be finalised. Migration minister Bart van den Brink has asked the IND to limit the delay to three years.

The pact also aims to ensure that most asylum seekers are dealt with before they reach the EU. In principle, this should result in far fewer refugees coming to the Netherlands – limiting the total to those arriving by plane.

However, Maas said, the number of refugees is “totally dependent on the situation in their country of origin” and the wider geopolitical situation.

In total, 24,070 people applied for refugee status in the Netherlands for the first time last year, 8,000 fewer than in 2024, according to IND figures.

At the end of 2025, some 51,000 people were still waiting for their claims to be assessed and the target is unlikely to be met this year either, the IND said in February.

In total, officials approved 7,400 requests in 2025 and rejected 8,100. They also assessed 5,600 fewer requests in 2025 than in 2024, despite efforts to speed up the process.