Locking up people who have been refused residency permits for the Netherlands rarely encourages them to return home, government advisors said in a new report on Thursday.

In 2019, just 15% of the people who were put in secure housing left the Netherlands voluntarily, the ACVZ, which advises on issues relating to foreign nationals, said.

Between 2015 and 2019, 12,522 people were detained pending deportation because they were not given residency rights. The detention centres were first established in 2015.

Many countries are unwilling to take back their nationals for a variety of reasons. Just one in 10 Moroccan and Algerian nationals are successfully sent back, the ACVZ said.

However, the Netherlands and Albania have an agreement on returning Albanian nationals, who form the biggest group of people living in detention. Almost all of them do go back, the ACVZ said.

The advisory body will present its recommendations on what action the government should take later to make sure more people return home later on Thursday.