The majority of the surplus comes from the sheltering of Ukrainian refugees. This component shows lower spending of 462 million euros. The lower expenses are mainly due to fewer municipal shelter places realized and the fact that fewer municipalities than expected have declared their actual costs. Additionally, money is returned from municipalities because sometimes too high an advance was requested last year.
There is also a significant surplus at the COA (Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers). Due to the lower influx, the average occupancy has dropped to about 75,000 people, resulting in lower costs of 224 million euros than previously forecasted. Additionally, the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) has lower revenue of 86.5 million euros. At Nidos, the organization that supports unaccompanied minor refugees, occupancy is lower, resulting in a surplus of 81.9 million euros.
The workloads at the IND have increased further, causing waiting times for asylum applications to rise. This leads to an increase in the number and amount of fines. Therefore, 160 million euros is added to the provision for fines at the IND. The rising fines show that the asylum emergency measures law must be processed quickly, as this law contains measures that help reduce these fines.
The surpluses on the Asylum and Migration budget, totaling 284 million euros, flow back to the Ministry of Finance as part of the nationwide underspending. The surpluses within the Ukraine dossier are excluded here, as these expenditures are placed outside the regular expenditure framework.
