De Vos puts down parliamentary questions about penalty payments paid to asylum seekers
23 februari 2026 | Forum for Democracy Intl
The IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) pays out millions of euros each year to asylum seekers in penalty payments because asylum procedures take too long. In 2024, this amounted to no less than €36.8 million in total, up to as much as €37,500 per asylum seeker.
This arrangement is intended as an administrative incentive for the government to handle procedures promptly, but in practice it creates a perverse incentive for asylum seekers: failing to cooperate and causing delays can result in financial gain. This is the world turned upside down.
Party leader De Vos is putting down parliamentary questions and proposing that penalty payments should no longer be paid to asylum seekers but instead be used for the benefit of Dutch citizens through tax reductions. Below are the parliamentary questions from Lidewij de Vos.
Questions from the Member De Vos to the Ministers for Asylum and Migration regarding the millions of euros in penalty payments being paid to asylum seekers
- Have you taken note of the NOS article of 14 January this year, which states that in 2024 the IND paid out a total of €36.8 million in penalty payments to asylum seekers? (1)
- How do you assess the fact that millions of euros in penalty payments are being paid to asylum seekers and that these payments can amount to as much as €37,000 per case?
- How much has the IND paid out in penalty payments in 2025, and what was the maximum amount per case?
- Do you share the opinion of the submitting member that it is undesirable for asylum seekers to be able to receive tens of thousands of euros through penalty payments? Please explain your answer.
- Do you share the view of both the COA and the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State that the penalty payment scheme is intended as an administrative incentive for timely decision-making and not as financial compensation or a source of income for asylum seekers? Please explain your answer.
- Do you agree with the submitting member that the current penalty payment scheme may create a perverse incentive, whereby it becomes attractive for asylum seekers to obstruct their procedure as much as possible? If not, why not? If so, do you consider this desirable?
- Are you prepared to investigate the possibilities of abolishing penalty payments to asylum seekers or, at the very least, reducing them? Please explain your answer.
- Are you prepared to investigate the possibilities of no longer paying penalty payments to asylum seekers, but instead allocating them to working Dutch citizens in the form of an annual tax credit? Please explain your answer.
- Can you answer these questions as soon as possible and separately from one another?