Netherlands plans more asylum-centre desks for work and language support

Residents of asylum reception centres in the Netherlands are set to get more local help finding work, volunteering and Dutch lessons, as the government expands its network of participation desks, known as Meedoenbalies.

In an announcement on 28 October, the government said another 12 desks would open this year, bringing the total to 50. Centres in The Hague, Amersfoort, Emmen and Zeewolde are among those getting a desk. Further expansion is planned for 2027, when most regular asylum reception centres are expected to have one.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment is allocating an additional €5 million annually. It also wants desks to put more emphasis on helping people towards paid employment, alongside volunteering and other activities. That is a direction for the service, not a promise of a job for everyone who visits.

How to find help where you live

If you live in a reception centre, ask your COA contact whether there is already a Meedoenbalie and how to use it. Do not assume a desk has opened simply because your town appears in the expansion announcement.

RefugeeHelp’s guidance on finding voluntary work recommends speaking to a COA or VluchtelingenWerk contact about available options. It also points residents towards vacancies on MyCOA. A conversation about the work you have done before, your interests and the Dutch you want to practise can be a useful starting point.

A participation desk is not a work permit

Getting advice or finding a vacancy does not itself give an asylum seeker permission to start paid work. Employers should check UWV’s current requirements for employing an asylum seeker and apply for a work permit where required. UWV checks the relevant conditions with the IND and COA; individual circumstances matter.

Volunteering has its own requirements too. The Netherlands Labour Authority explains that an organisation needs a UWV volunteer declaration when the asylum seeker does not have a residence permit. Ask the organisation to check this before you begin.

For residents, the practical first step is therefore a local conversation: find out which support exists at your centre, then check the rules for the particular activity or job before starting.

Illustrative archive photograph of a job interview, taken in March 2020; not a Meedoenbalie or its participants. Photo: Edmond Dantès / Pexels, used under the Pexels License. Cropped and resized.