IND annual report 2024: more penalties because of more legal proceedings
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Council of ministers approves asylum laws, IND fears becoming overburdened
Last update: 18 March 2025
On Friday 7 March, the council of ministers approved Minister Faber’s asylum laws. The IND supports the plans, but also warns for the amount of additional work that will come from the laws and their concurrence with other developments. As a result, the organisation is at risk of becoming overburdened.
The coming years, the IND will face enormous challenges. For example, the IND is facing a large number of pending applications and a heavy workload. And this workload can become even heavier because the asylum applications of 70,000 Syrians may possibly have to be reassessed. In addition, 120,000 new applications by Ukrainians may follow once their temporary protection stops.
Not everything at once
To be able to face the challenges, the IND is asking* for attention for the timing of the implementation. We can do a lot, but not all at once. Where possible, the IND wants the implementation of the laws* to coincide with the European Asylum and Migration Pact in 2026. The IND states that all sorts of rules will become tangled up if this does not happen. This can result in legal issues and even more work. .
In addition, the IND warns that the implementation of new rules without proper preparation will result in even longer waiting times and more pressure on reception locations and legal processes. Because of this, it will become increasingly difficult for the IND to properly perform its statutory duty – correctly and within the deadlines.
Opportunities
The IND thinks the new laws present opportunities. Some measures will make the asylum procedure faster. For example cancelling the intention procedure and the rejection of asylum applications by people who do not show up when they are to have their interview. Other measures are instead expected to cause more work and legal issues. This goes for the stricter rules for family reunification and the restriction of whom belong to the family, for example.
Extra money
The IND and the judiciary will receive extra money to implement the laws. This is a total amount of 115 million euros. 101.8 million euros have been reserved for the two-status system act and 13.3 million euros for the asylum emergency measure act. It is not yet clear how much money the IND will receive exactly.
According to the IND, the additional money helps, but it is not enough to keep doing the work properly. For that, more stable and long-term funding is needed.
*only in Dutch