Dutch minister says Ukrainian asylum claims will not take priority
The minister has set no timetable for Ukrainian asylum claims, even after an EU court ruling that the deferred applications must be processed.
What has changed? · 07/10/2026, 18:31 UTC
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More than 140,000 Ukrainians are waiting for their asylum applications to be processed in the Netherlands, according to Dutch news agency ANP. Asylum minister Bart van den Brink has told parliament that other applications will take priority, but he does not yet know when the Ukrainian claims will be handled. [1]
The Netherlands had deferred applications from Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion while they were permitted to stay temporarily. ANP reports that the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on 1 October that those applications must be processed. Van den Brink does not want to change the Immigration and Naturalisation Service’s existing processing order and will examine how and when the Ukrainian claims can be handled. [1]
The immigration service already faces a backlog. ANP cites the Netherlands Court of Audit for an average asylum waiting time of 67 weeks; that figure is not a waiting-time estimate specifically for Ukrainian applicants. [1]
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