Figures showing that over a quarter of Dutch first-time refugee requests come from people with no hope of gaining asylum in the Netherlands have prompted the right-wing ruling party VVD to call for a completely new system of registering asylum requests.

‘We want a completely different system in which people can no longer apply for asylum in the Netherlands, but only in the region they come from, where they will also be taken care of’ the party said on Twitter, in response to the article.

The Telegraaf on Monday quoted justice ministry figures showing that 26% of new refugee applications come from people who are unlikely to be granted asylum.

In the first 11 months of 2019, 5,270 Nigerian, Algerian, Moldovan and Moroccan nationals applied for asylum in the Netherlands but they are ‘almost never’ successful, the paper said.

‘This shows that our refugee procedures are out-dated,’ VVD parliamentarian Bente Becker told the paper. Changing the rules to stop people from safe third countries applying for asylum would ‘make it pointless for them to come here,’ Becker said.

In total, 20,618 people applied for asylum in the Netherlands in the first 11 months of last year and some 20,000 people are currently waiting for a ruling on their cases.

The Socialist Party has also called for change, saying ‘pointless’ cases should be dealt with as quickly as possible. ‘We are offering space to people in need, not to people who deliberately want to misuse your system,’ SP parliamentarian Jasper van Dijk said.

Figures from the national statistics office CBS earlier this month show that refugees account for just 6% of last year’s growth in the size of the Dutch population.

The Dutch government’s official policy on refugees centres on making deals with other countries in Africa and the Middle East to ensure people fleeing war and hardship remain in the region they come from.

Dismaying from Mark Rutte’s governing VVD:

“We want a system…. whereby people can no longer apply for asylum in the Netherlands”

Some concerns about immigration are legitimate, but the Netherlands was once famed as a place of sanctuary – and thrived as a result https://t.co/WKeGqKn6DV

— Ben Coates (@bencoates1) January 6, 2020