The door handles on both doors have broken on my daughter's 2001 Beetle, but about a year apart.
For the passenger I drilled holes and used zip ties and got a solid fix.
The driver's broke recently and after trying to duplicate what I did on the passenger's, it was still a bit loose. I couldn't get a good angle on the top rear portion, which left the top crack noticeable and a not so solid feeling.
I opted to try another users chain from bolt to bolt fix that I saw here in the forums, but with strapping wire instead. I thought getting the chain exactly right-sized to make a snug hangle might pose more of a challenge than needed.
This isn't a pretty fix, but with the handle cover, the ugliness is completely hidden.
I started by wrapping the strapping wire around the bolt tightly and made 2 of these with about 10 inches extra (ignore shadow of the wire):
Then I took a soldering iron and melted a valley for the wires to lay in.
Then I used pliers to twist each end together until I got a real tight snug secure handle.
Then I forced the twisted ends back into the holes so it they wouldn't block the handle cover/top from going back in.
I also had to melt a groove in the handle cover/top that slid into where the bolt holes are.
Yes, this is ghetto. But it's hidden completely by the cover.
Yes, you lose the 3 clips that hold the handle cover but 2 of my 3 broke when I removed it for the first time. AND the cover stays put just fine by friction and I think there are a couple tabs too that keep it in place.
Yes, it weakens the plastic, but the handle is already broken.
The only way I see the see to fix this the right way is to replace the whole door panel since the handle is part of the panel. The panel is $500. I'll settle for my ugly ghetto fix that's hidden.
But if anyone is a fabricator, it seems to me there is a gold mine here, since both mine broke. One could fabricate a bolt to bolt fix with cut outs for the handle clips.