The Netherlands takes additional refugees from Ukraine into account | Interior

„Scaling up and down is our core business“says a spokesperson for the COA. “We also always take into account a possible rapid additional demand after an unexpected arrival of groups of refugees, as was also demonstrated last year. If people come from Ukraine and ask for asylum, we will welcome them.

However, according to a spokesperson for State Secretary Van der Burg (Justice and Security), there is a big difference with, for example, refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who are now seeking asylum in the Netherlands. . “Ukrainians are Europeans,” she says. Ukrainian citizens with a biometric passport have been able to travel freely in the EU without a visa since 2017. This is the result of the association agreement that the EU concluded with Ukraine, whose visa liberalization made part.

tent camps

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told ABC News that one to five million Ukrainians would be displaced following a Russian invasion. The Pentagon expects the majority to flee to Poland, to continue west from there. US soldiers help set up tent camps in Poland, on the border with Ukraine.

Whether this will have consequences for the Netherlands is still speculation, a COA spokesperson said. With the current reception shortage, it is questionable whether the Netherlands can accommodate additional refugees. “At the moment, we are working hard to achieve enough places in the current forecast. All the progress in this area also makes it possible to have room for other refugees later on. In the meantime, we are reviewing developments with the ministry.