Task force to fight backlog of asylum applications is completing its work
The backlog that the IND had incurred up to April 2020 in processing asylum applications has almost completely been cleared up by the deployment of a special Taskforce. Of the 15,350 cases that were open, 14,100 have now been eliminated. State Secretary Broekers-Knol informed the House of Representatives about this by letter* last night.
The IND is pleased that the backlog has almost completely been cleared. 'The waiting times for asylum seekers were far too long. As a result, people were in uncertainty for too long. We want to prevent that in the future," said the Asylum Director Anton Molleman.
Clarity
In the coming weeks, the IND will do everything it can to complete the last remaining old applications and thus provide everyone with clarity about what he or she is entitled to. In some of these cases, an intended decision has already been issued, but the applicant and authorised representative still have time to respond. Another part of those cases has a so-called 'decision barrier', such as the health of the applicant or an on-going investigation abroad.
Additional deployment
Attention is now turned to asylum applications that have been received since 1 April 2020. Due to the commitment to the old applications, the decision period has also exceeded in approximately 1,200 cases. 'These applications must also be completed as quickly as possible, but carefully', - Molleman says. Some of the Taskforce's experienced staff will be permanently employed by the IND to continue their work. Flexible staff will also remain available to help with the processing of applications. All efforts in the coming period will be aimed at permanently solving the problem of backlogs, so that they become a thing of the past.
Huge effort
Molleman is proud of the enormous effort that the IND employees have made in recent months to clear the backlog. 'We have set up a large organisation in a short period of time. We have introduced new working methods and practically a lot had to be arranged, such as transport and locations. People from across the organisation were involved in the work. And all this at a time when there were many restrictions due to corona and we had to constantly adjust our plans'. This also had consequences for the other organisations in the asylum chain. Therefore, Molleman emphasizes the good cooperation with those partners. 'No one stands alone in the asylum chain; we all need each other; what happens in one organisation often has consequences for other organisations as well'.
* Only in Dutch