MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the NRC Handelsblad newspaper reported that accepting one asylum seeker would cost 25,000 euros annually, with 60,000 people predicted to ask the Netherlands for asylum this year. This would put the total cost at about 1.25 billion euros.
"I have not counted, but it is absolutely true that we go towards the billion this year," Dijsselbloem told the BNR radio, commenting on the newspaper’s figures, adding that the original budget was 300 million euros.
"You cannot let people sleep on the streets. That is the last thing I would want to do. But I would rather do other things with the money," the minister said.
Over 710,000 migrants arrived in the European Union within the first nine months of 2015, EU external border protection agency Frontex said Tuesday.
