Refugees and migration

Protection and reception of refugees in the region

Around the world, more than 100 million people have fled their homes due to conflicts and insecurity. Most of them find refuge in their region of origin, where they should be given opportunities to build lives for themselves until they can return home if possible. This makes refugees less likely to travel further away, for instance to Europe.

What does the Netherlands contribute to the safe reception of refugees?

The Netherlands contributes in various ways to the safe reception of refugees in the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq:

• Education for refugee children
  The Netherlands contributes to education programmes for more than 3.5 million refugee children aged 5 to 17 who are unable to attend school. In the case of older children, the emphasis is on vocational education that will increase their chances of finding jobs, with particular attention for girls.
• Promoting work and income
  The Netherlands helps refugees and people in host communities develop skills and find work. We also encourage local businesses to hire refugees, and we provide financial support to small businesses.
• Protecting vulnerable groups
  The Netherlands urges the authorities in host countries to protect the rights of refugees and promotes the registration and identification of vulnerable refugees, such as chronically ill people, victims of sexual violence, and unaccompanied women with children.
• Improving public services
  Many refugees and migrants travel to cities and villages rather than to refugee camps, because they are more likely to find work there. These cities don’t have adequate public services for large numbers of new people.  So the Netherlands works with local authorities and other organisations to improve and expand public services such as the water and electricity supply, housing and waste collection services.

It does this in cooperation with the host countries and with organisations like the UN, the World Bank and NGOs.

Safer, more orderly migration

The Netherlands cooperates with common countries of origin and countries many migrants travel through. This cooperation has several aims:

• Protecting migrants and their rights
  For example by providing reception facilities, medical care or legal services such as establishing migrants’ refugee status.
• Preventing irregular migration
  For example by carefully informing people of the risks involved in migration.
• Combating human trafficking and people smuggling
  For example by improving legislation, identifying cases of people smuggling and prosecuting people smugglers.
• Helping with voluntary repatriation and reintegration
  For example, via International Organization for Migration (IOM) programmes, which help migrants stranded in North African countries voluntarily return to their country of origin. This gives them an alternative to the dangerous Mediterranean crossing into Europe.