In total, 2,750 people were forcibly deported from the Netherlands last year, and a further 3,240 left with government assistance, according to new figures from the deportation department DTenV.

In 2023, 5,780 people are known to have left the country after being instructed to leave—some voluntarily, others through deportation. The 2024 figure marks the fourth increase in departures in a row.

Of the 2024 total, 1,740 returned to another EU country under the Dublin treaty, which requires asylum seekers to request asylum in the first European country they arrive in.

There was a sharp increase in the number of people sent back to Algeria—210 in 2024, compared with just 40 in 2023. A further 250 people were returned to Morocco.

Some 960 people were deported to another country after completing a prison sentence in the Netherlands.

Disappeared

The department also reported that 5,740 people who had been ordered to leave the Netherlands have disappeared, making it unclear whether they have left the country or are still living there illegally.

A small group of 30 Syrian nationals are known to have returned to their home country following the fall of president Assad.

The far-right Dutch government has pledged to assist Syrians who wish to return but immigration minister Marjolein Faber has said she will begin sending other Syrians back, as soon as it is safe to do so.