No one has yet had their residency permit for the Netherlands withdrawn for failing to pass an integration test, the AD says on Thursday.

Nor have officials started the process of withdrawing any permits, despite the failure of thousands of people to complete the process, the paper says.

Last month, social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher said just 6,000 of the new arrivals to the Netherlands between 2013 and 2015 have passed a civic integration test even though 53,000 are supposed to do so by the end of 2017.

‘Fewer than half the people who should have passed a test by the first quarter of this year have done so,’ Asscher said. The minister has pledged to find out why the test is not working and why so few people are taking it.

He also admitted that international rules often prevent officials from withdrawing residency rights. Recognised refugees, for example, cannot lose their residency permit for failing to pass a citizenship test.

New arrivals

Apart from EU citizens and people on specific work contracts, all new arrivals in the Netherlands are supposed to go through a formal integration process within three years.

In April, it emerged that 24 people have been fined for not completing the procedure within the deadline. The maximum fine which can be applied is €1,250.

Earlier this week the Telegraaf reported that the quality of integration courses is not monitored by any official body, prompting calls for more government involvement.