Outgoing cabinet sharpenes asylum policy for Syrians

The outgoing cabinet is changing the asylum policy for Syrians. Due to the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the improved safety situation in the country, asylum applications are no longer automatically approved. Asylum applications from Syrians will now be assessed individually.

That writes outgoing minister David van Weel (VVD) in a letter to the Lower House. Van Weel points out that the main reason for protection-the repressive Assad regime-has disappeared since the change of power on December 8, 2024.

For the whole of Syria, the lowest gradation of ‘random violence’ now applies, which means that general insecurity is no longer a reason for asylum. Members of vulnerable groups, such as the LGBTI community, can still get asylum, provided they can demonstrate individual risk factors.

With the policy change, the government also brings support for return and reintegration back to the normal level. That means that asylum seekers who voluntarily return to Syria receives 815 euros in cash assistance per adult for the first days after arrival, plus a maximum of 2,000 euros reintegration assistance in kind, Van Weel writes in the letter of parliament.

Ministerial post asylum and migration

The timing of the letter is striking, because the official message on which the new policy is based was ready for some time. This week, however, in The Hague is about who the Ministry of Asylum and Migration should lead after the departure of the PVV ministers from the cabinet.

Currently, outgoing VVD Minister of Justice Van Weel is taking the portfolio. The other remaining cabinet parties, BBB and NSC, prefer to see a new interpretation of the post. Tuesday invited BBB leader Caroline van der Plas Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Nicolien van Vroonhoven (NSC) For a new conversation.

According to Van der Plas, it is not logical that the portfolio stays completely with Van Weel. She proposes to divide the tasks over three ministries: Justice, Social Affairs and Housing. The VVD is holding on to Van Weel as a minister, partly because of the desire to show in the run -up to the elections that the party has a grip on the asylum policy.

Although there has already been three times consultation under the leadership of outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof and the three Deputy Prime Ministers, the coalition parties are not yet over. Schoof said that until that time the standard replacement scheme applies, which remains responsible for asylum and migration.

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