A special task force of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) has processed 4,000 of the 15,300 overdue asylum applications since April, State Secretary Ankie Broekers-Knol (Asylum and Migration) writes in a Tuesday. brief to the House of Representatives. The remaining 11,300 applications must be processed by the end of the year.
The task force was created in the spring because of the million noose that the IND was overcome by the asylum backlog.
The new task force will be at full strength from September and will use a new working method, which will quickly reduce the pile of backlogs. By having legal offices draw up the draft decisions, Broekers-Knol expects that at least five thousand applications can be processed more quickly.
In some cases, oral hearings are also replaced by written interviews to speed up the process. In case of doubt, for example about the danger to national security, an oral hearing will always be held.
Care still over speed
In the letter, the State Secretary emphasizes that careful processing of an asylum application still has priority over speed. Complex asylum applications, such as from LGBT people or converts, will simply take more time, says Broekers-Knol.
Accelerated processing of asylum applications will probably also put more pressure on other authorities. Municipalities will receive more applications for housing for status holders and courts can get busier because of asylum seekers who appeal. The State Secretary says he is in talks with these authorities to ensure that this runs smoothly.
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