Number of staff and nature of the first instance authority

Author

Dutch Council for Refugees Visit Website

The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) is responsible for examining applications for international protection and taking decisions at first instance. The work instructions applied by caseworkers are published in Dutch on the IND’s website.^[2] This includes procedural instructions on, inter alia, interviews, subsequent applications, age assessments, border procedures, and the use of country of origin information. Additionally, it provides information on how to work with an interpreter, how to handle medical advice, how to decide in cases in which sexual orientation and gender identity issues are brought up as grounds for asylum, or how to conduct child-friendly interviews.

To keep up with the yearly increase in the number of asylum requests, the IND has gradually been raising its capacity. The number of IND personnel has increased from 3,788.5 FTE in 2018, to 4,302 FTE in 2019, 4,762 FTE in 2020, 4,969 FTE in 2021, 5,393 in 2022 (FTE being a ‘fulltime-equivalent’, where one FTE corresponds to a full workweek for one person).^[3] This number increased to 6,039 in 2023. In addition, the IND has experimented with different methods to make the asylum procedure more efficient, for example by implementing a written interview or outsourcing positive decisions to external partners. However, the backlog of cases continues to grow, increasing from 31,340 to 44,030 asylum requests in the Regular and Extended Procedures (excluding family reunification and Tracks 1 and 2, see Procedures) during the first eleven months of 2023.^[4]

In addition to the staff of the IND, there was also European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) personnel present on Dutch territory in 2023. Because of the ongoing accommodation crisis, on 21 December 2021 the then Minister for Migration addressed a letter to the EUAA requesting support in dealing with this crisis. In the rapid needs assessment conducted over the following months, it was concluded that the EUAA would provide up to 160 temporary containers and 7 staff members in support to reception activities.

In May 2022, the EUAA signed its first operational plan with the Netherlands, to help with first operational response to address temporary reception needs, as well as operational collaboration in the field of reception.[5] In December 2022, the EUAA and the Netherlands signed a new operating plan for 2022-2023, focused on the first objective of helping with first operational response to address temporary reception needs.[6]

Throughout 2023, the EUAA deployed 32 experts to the Netherlands.[7] These included 15 junior reception child protection experts, 8 junior asylum information provision experts and 4 members of the roving team.[8]

As of 19 December 2023, a total of 28 EUAA experts were deployed in the Netherlands, out of which 15 were junior reception child protection experts, 7 junior asylum information provision experts and 3 members of the roving team.[9]

In 2023, the EUAA delivered 7 training sessions to a total of 34 experts and personnel of national authorities, relevant partners and EUAA contracted personnel.^[10]

^{[1] IND, Jaarcijfers 2023, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3UKIAKV.} 

^{[2] IND, ‘Work instructions’, available in Dutch at: https://bitly.ws/39eVk.}

^{[3] IND, Annual reports 2018 – 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/48aADS3.}

^{[4] IND, De IND in cijfers, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/48moKJP.}

^{[5] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022 agreed with the European Union Agency for Asylum and the Netherlands, 6 May 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3ypVNMJ, Annex 1.}

^{[6] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022-2023 agreed with the European Union Agency for Asylum and the Netherlands, December 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3FenQ5x, Annex 1.}

^{[7] EUAA personnel numbers do not include deployed interpreters by the EUAA in support of asylum and reception activities.}

^{[8] Information provided by the EUAA, 26 February 2024.}

^{[9] Information provided by the EUAA, 26 February 2024.}

^{[10] Information provided by the EUAA, 26 February 2024.}