Asylum and Migration
Advice: Make work central for asylum seekers and status holders from the start
The Sociaal-Economische Raad (SER) advises the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment to grant municipalities legal responsibility and structural funding to guide asylum seekers, status holders, and Ukrainian refugees into employment shortly after their arrival. Currently, only 57 percent of status holders have paid work eight years after obtaining residency, significantly lower than the national average of 73 percent. The SER attributes this to delays in asylum procedures, frequent relocations, and integration courses that conflict with working hours. Minister Aartsen aims to get 75,000 more newcomers into jobs within four years, a goal the SER supports but emphasizes must include appropriate job levels rather than just any employment.
Ozetta summarises; the reporting is the newsroom's