The majority of refugees hosted in the Netherlands are from Ukraine, who receive temporary protection in the Netherlands through the EU's Temporary Protection Directive. Other recognised refugees are from countries such as Syria, Eritrea and Türkiye. Refugees are integrated into local communities and often housed in temporary or permanent accommodation in municipalities. Some resides in regular reception centres provided by the COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang Asielzoekers), which is the Dutch national agency tasked with organizing and providing reception, accommodation and basic support to all persons applying for international protection in the Netherlands. 

A significant recent legal development is concerned with the passing of the Statelessness Determination Procedure Act, which came into effect in the Netherlands on 1 October 2023. The Act introduces a new procedure for stateless persons to prove their stateless status. This will mainly benefit persons who have legal residence, but encounter difficulty being registered as stateless due to poor documentation or a lack of necessary documentation. If recognized as stateless, individuals can apply for a travel document. They may be eligible for Dutch nationality after three years of legal residence, instead of the standard five-year requirement, at a lower cost. For individuals without legal residence, they can now submit a request for determination of statelessness under the new procedure. However, it will not result in a residence permit under the Vreemdelingenwet 2000. Moreover, the new law now allows children without legal residence rights to apply for Dutch citizenship, as long as they can demonstrate that they have “uninterrupted stable residence” in the Netherlands for a minimum of 5 years.