ByMATHILDA HELLER

Palestinians were seemingly the largest group of asylum seekers in the Netherlands in the first two months of 2026.

The Jerusalem Post viewed figures on the website of the Dutch Justice and Security Ministry, which showed that 17% of asylum seekers in January and 20% in February were marked "nationality unknown."

These were the largest groups in those respective months. In January, 10% came from Syria, 7% from Algeria, 5% from Turkey, and 5% from Somalia. In February, the second largest groups were Syria (8%), Sudan (8%), Turkey (6%), and Somalia (5%).

In January and February combined, there were around 750 asylum seekers of unknown nationality. Last year, 55% of asylum applications involving unknown nationality received a positive decision at first instance, allowing them to stay in the Netherlands.

An asylum seeker may choose to not disclose their nationality for various reasons, but more often than not, this is chosen because the asylum seekers are citizens of a country that is not recognized by the Netherlands.

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at Museumplein ahead of a 6 km march through the city as part of a protest demanding a tougher stance from the Dutch government against Israel's war in Gaza, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 5, 2025.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at Museumplein ahead of a 6 km march through the city as part of a protest demanding a tougher stance from the Dutch government against Israel's war in Gaza, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 5, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Charlotte Van Campenhout)

A spokesperson for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) told the paper Der Telegraaf, "Although this cannot be immediately extracted from the systems as such, in practice, it appears that the majority of the group registered with an unknown nationality is Palestinian." 

The Netherlands does not recognize Palestine as a state

This is because the Netherlands does not recognize Palestine as a state, and therefore does not recognize their nationality.

The IND asks asylum seekers with unknown nationality about their “country of habitual residence" and investigates whether they are at risk there. This is relevant, as a large proportion of Palestinians do not live in Gaza or the West Bank, but reside elsewhere, such as Lebanon or Jordan, some of which are not unsafe countries.

However, even in such cases, IND told Der Telegraaf that even in cases where a Palestinian asylum seeker "does not have sufficient documents to make his statelessness (or nationality) plausible, it can still be concluded that he deserves protection.”

There are estimated to be over 12,000 Palestinians in the Netherlands, a large number of whom live in Vlaardingen.