Following family members outnumber asylum seekers in Q1

The number of asylum seekers in Q1 2017 was 1.6 thousand down from Q1 2016, whereas the number of following family members was 3.4 thousand up from one year previously. Syrian relatives in particular joined family members already staying in the Netherlands. This also applies to stateless persons, including many Palestinians from Syria and Eritreans.
The number of asylum requests submitted by Algerians and Moroccans in Q1 2017 was slightly lower than in recent quarters, but these nationalities were still among the five largest groups of asylum seekers.

More men, but fewer children apply for asylum

The majority of asylum seekers in Q1 this year were adult males (57 percent). The share of adult females was 17 percent. One-quarter were under the age of 18. The share of young asylum seekers is smaller than in Q1 2016, when boys and girls made up nearly one-third of asylum seekers.
The distribution of nationalities of asylum seekers has changed. One year ago, Syrians constituted the largest group and most of them came to the Netherlands as complete families. In the course of 2016, a relatively large group of asylum seekers from Algeria and Morocco arrived; the vast majority of them were men travelling on their own.
Over half of following family members are underage, approximately one-third are women. With 12 percent, the share of men arriving in Q1 was slightly higher than in the preceding two quarters (8 percent).