In the Netherlands, the much-debated Spreidingswet has been in force since 1 February 2024. The aim of this law is to distribute asylum seekers more fairly across the country, as a significant share of Dutch municipalities had not provided asylum accommodation for years. In the current parliamentary elections, several parties state in their manifestos that they want to repeal the law. The reception of refugees thus remains a topical and contested political issue.
This was the reason for political scientist Philipp Lutz, together with co-researcher Walter Bartl, to examine refugee dispersal policies (RDPs) in European countries. Lutz: “There has been little research on how countries actually organise this at the national level. That is why we investigated how the 32 European countries do it.”
Negotiated versus mandatory model
With the exception of one country, all those studied apply some form of dispersal, even when there is no explicit legal framework. How they do so differs. Most countries have a ‘negotiated model’, in which authorities consult and make agreements about the distribution of asylum seekers; no fixed national quotas are imposed from above. Countries with high inflows, such as Germany, more often use a ‘mandatory model’ with quotas and clearly defined responsibilities per region, including sanctions for non-compliance.
Dutch context
“It is striking that the Netherlands - without the Spreidingswet - had the least restrictive dispersal regime among the major Western European refugee-receiving countries,” says Lutz. “At the same time, incidents around sites such as Ter Apel show how important balanced dispersal and transparent communication with local residents are. Our research also points to the risk of NIMBY reactions when strict quotas are to be introduced. Dispersal is therefore an ambivalent policy instrument that requires careful balancing between the interests of the state, local stakeholders and the integration prospects of asylum seekers. Our study shows that it remains a balancing act.”
The full paper is available here.