IND speaks to the House of Representatives about legislative proposals

Read the opening text of the IND below; it was delivered by Rhodia Maas, Director General of the IND

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Chairperson, 

Thank you for the invitation to discuss the implementation of the Asylum Emergency Measures Act and the Act on the Introduction of the Dual Status System with the committee. I am Rhodia Maas, DG of the IND. We are pleased that the implementation of asylum laws is not only receiving attention from your committee, but is even the main topic.

Fortunately, over the last 5 to 10 years, the legislature has been paying more attention to the feasibility of policy. This is positive, because we can only really solve problems with implementable policies.

We have of course spoken to the minister about feasibility. She is well informed about what we find positive about the laws and about our concerns about the laws.

In short: a number of measures will help the IND in the implementation practice. Timing is crucial in this matter. Our call is: let the major changes, such as the introduction of a dual-status system, coincide with the introduction of the Asylum and Migration Pact in 2026. That is the time when we will have to make many adjustments to the asylum procedure. Because the IND can handle a lot, but not everything at once.

Chairperson, the IND has a hard ’task’ ahead of it, and you could easily call that an understatement. I will mention a few figures to illustrate this::

• The number of people waiting for a decision on their asylum application has risen to more than 50,000, while in 2024, the IND decided on more cases than in 2023.
• The result: considerable waiting times, because the IND can process approximately 30,000 of these types of applications annually.
• In addition, more than 65,000 applicants for family reunion are currently waiting for a decision from the IND. 

Deciding on all those pending applications takes time, while new applications are constantly being submitted. Waiting times will therefore remain high for the time being and this has major consequences for people, people who remain in uncertainty for a long time.

In addition to these pending applications, there are more developments that put pressure on the IND.  

Major changes in the migration field that are coming our way more or less simultaneously demand a lot from the organisation:
- the Asylum Emergency Measures Act,
- the dual status system
- also, the introduction of the Migration Pact in 444 days.

In addition, the Temporary Protection Directive (RTB) for displaced persons from Ukraine expires next year. It is still uncertain how this will be arranged; whether this will result in 130,000 additional asylum applications to be processed or whether another solution will be chosen, the end of the RTB will pose an additional challenge for the IND. 
The question now is: how do we fulfil our social task and what does the IND need for this?

What will help us is abolishing the penalty law. For the IND, the effect of this law is disastrous without achieving the purpose of the law, namely making decisions more quickly.

I also continue to emphasise that a multi-year financial clarity is of great importance. Fortunately, this is already a topic of discussion as the minister indicated during the budget discussion in Parliament.

We tackle waiting times by working smarter and by making our work simpler. Our key goal is to be 25% more productive by 2028. It is ambitious, but I am convinced we will succeed.

As you can see, the IND is very keen to perform our statutory task properly and on time. We work hard to achieve this every day. It goes without saying that we will continue to do so, even with new policies.

However, we cannot do this alone. That is why we are talking to the minister to continue to pay attention to the feasibility of all changes.

For the IND, the asylum laws are enforceable, provided we are given the time to implement them in the right way and at the right time. The most important thing is that the dual status system comes into effect at the same time as the Migration Pact, in June 2026.

Before I go into our points of attention, I would like to state that a number of the proposed measures can help the IND. Consider, for example, the measures that make the asylum procedure faster, such as cancelling the intended procedure and rejecting asylum applications from people who deliberately do not show up for a hearing.

In the legislative proposals, we have three points of attention:

1.    The basic principle of both laws is immediate entry into force. As far as we are concerned, whether transitional law is necessary depends on the subject. Concerning the dual status system, the IND supports immediate entry into force. The system leads to additional work for the IND, but by declaring it applicable to pending applications, we prevent us from using even more different working methods.

2.   The IND will argue for a transitional legislative provision concerning subsequent travel conditions and the restriction of the nuclear family. We see legal vulnerability if the principle remains that the new legislation also applies to current applications. We have our concerns about whether this will hold up on appeal. The result is that the IND will have to make new decisions and may not object to the additional subsequent travel conditions. This results in unnecessary extra work, while the intended goal is not achieved. The same applies to the restriction of the nuclear family.

3.    And I have already indicated the most important one earlier: coordinate the moment of entry into force of the various legislative changes and take into account the coherence of the implementation of the Migration Pact. Introduce the dual status system at the same time as the Migration Pact. This is the toughest point for us. The IND can handle a lot, but not everything at the same time.

Chairperson,

The IND appreciates the invitation from your House to discuss the feasibility of the asylum laws in detail.

Because the minister is responsible for political and policy choices, we will limit ourselves to the implementation aspects of the two laws in answering your questions. If you have any questions about other topics, you are always welcome for an interview or workvisit.

Thank you.