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The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Applicants (Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers – COA) is the authority responsible for the accommodation of asylum applicants and thus manages the reception centres. Normally asylum applicants who enter the Netherlands by land have to apply at the Central Reception Centre (Centraal Opvanglocatie, COL) in Ter Apel, where they should stay for a maximum of three days. The COL is not designed for a long stay. If applicants arrive during the weekend, they will have access to night reception until registration on the first working day.
After this stay at the COL, the asylum applicant is transferred to a Process Reception Centre (Proces Opvanglocatie, POL). An asylum applicant remains in the POL if the IND decides to examine the asylum application in the Regular Procedure (within eight days). If protection is granted, the asylum applicant is transferred to a Centre for Asylum Applicants (Asielzoekerscentrum, AZC) before receiving housing in the Netherlands. If the IND decides to handle the application in the extended asylum procedure, the asylum applicant will also be transferred from the POL to an AZC. Asylum applicants and beneficiaries of protection who have not yet been housed are hosted in collective centres. Currently, no option to access individual housing is provided by the authorities.
The Netherlands experienced various reception crises, the latest of which started in September 2021. Whereas the reception crisis experienced in 2015 was due to an unexpected and very high number of new arrivals of asylum applicants, the current one could have been prevented, if the government had anticipated the possibility of having to manage an increase in the number of new arrivals. Instead, many reception centres were closed as soon as the number of arriving asylum applicants dropped, leaving no flexibility in the system to cope with any increases in arrivals – even though the COA did request to preserve extra capacity on several occasions in 2015, 2018 and 2020.[1] The current shortage of asylum reception places was caused by this previous downsizing of the reception capacity, as well as similar downsizing of IND personnel which led to increased waiting times in the asylum procedure.[2] Due to the reception crisis, the reception process as described above is not usually followed. Applicants often stay at the COL in Ter Apel or at surrounding ‘pre-registration locations’ for much longer than three days, and these locations are frequently over capacity. Here, they wait for a transfer to one of the many (Crisis) Emergency Reception Centres that opened (and closed) around the country from September 2021 onwards. There has been a constant reception crisis since September 2021, and it continued throughout 2025.
Less than half of the people entitled to reception conditions (i.e., asylum seekers) as well as beneficiaries of international protection who have not been offered housing yet, were staying in (crisis) emergency centers over the course of 2025 (32,842 out of 79,984 people). All other residents stayed at regular asylum centres and/or temporary reception locations managed by municipalities. Different reports highlight how the majority of the (crisis) emergency locations still largely fail to meet the State’s obligations under EU law. While some (crisis) emergency locations have adequate facilities, these are exceptions, and conditions elsewhere are equally distressing. The inadequate reception conditions at (crisis) emergency locations are especially alarming due to the long period of stay for up to one and a half years. People suffer severely from a lack of privacy, tranquillity, and suitable nutrition. Sanitary facilities are inadequate and particularly unhygienic at too many locations. Problems with healthcare accessibility exist in almost half of the (crisis) shelters. Additionally, the majority of the (crisis) shelters are detrimental to children, who experience a decline in health and weight loss due to a lack of activities, safe play areas, and healthy food. Large differences between (crisis) shelters reveal that whether asylum seekers are able to experience decent reception in the Netherlands is subject to arbitrariness.
[1] Netherlands Court of Audit (Algemene Rekenkamer), ‘Focus op opvangcapaciteit voor asielzoekers’, 18 January 2023, available in Dutch at: http://bit.ly/3C0KsIn.
[2] This has also been confirmed by the ACVZ and ROB (Raad voor het Openbaar Bestuur). In their report they state that the reception crisis is a self-made crisis by the Dutch government: ‘Asielopvang uit de crisis’, 14 June 2022, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3ik1OGw. This finding was further confirmed in 2023 by the National Ombudsperson and the Netherlands Court of Audit (Algemene Rekenkamer): Nationale ombudsman en Kinderombudsman, De crisis voorbij: Naar een menswaardige opvang van asielzoekers vanuit mensen- en kinderrechtelijk perspectief, 27 June 2023, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3vIr2V0; Algemene Rekenkamer, ‘Focus op opvangcapaciteit voor asielzoekers’, 18 January 2023, available in Dutch at: http://bit.ly/3C0KsIn.