COA highlights the pressure on the reception system and the shortage of shelters in State of Implementation report

The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has published the State of Implementation 2025, which is an annual report that provides an overview of the bottlenecks in receptions, solutions through cooperation with partners, and presents COA’s vision for the future to realise a stable reception landscape. In the most recent report, COA emphasised the high pressure on the reception system, noting the negative impact of the long waiting times for 54,000 residents who applied for asylum before the Pact entered into application on 12 June 2026. It called for the provision of stable reception locations with good opportunities for participation, rather than emergency locations. 

COA noted that the number of residents in the beginning of 2025 was 72,500. This figure rose to almost 80,000 at the start of 2026, with the length of stay increasing sharply in a short period of time. It reported that the average waiting times in the general and extended asylum rose to 67 weeks in 2025, while this waiting time will increase further for those who applied before 12 June. Additionally, it noted that more than 19,000 people with a residence permit are waiting in reception until they receive housing in municipalities. It highlighted that the core problem remained the shortage of stable reception shelters which has caused a dependency on emergency shelter locations. COA forecasted that the shortage could rise to approximately 8000 places by the end of the summer. As part of its call for stable reception, COA referred to the ‘asylum seekers’ centres of tomorrow’ which are reception locations that focus on integration from the start.