Brabant municipalities are still far behind arranging reception places for asylum seekers for the Spreading Act. A lack of suitable locations, fear of unrest and a shortage of money ensure that it is not possible to realize reception. As a result, according to the Spreading Act, thousands of asylum reception spots are not enough in Brabant.
At least 30 Brabant municipalities say they will not be able to have enough reception places ready before 1 July. On that date, according to the Springing Act, that is necessary.
Several Brabant municipalities complain about the attitude of the national government, which causes confusion and unrest. This is apparent from a tour of Omroep Brabant, the NOS and Nieuwsuur about to what extent municipalities succeed in getting the goals from the Spreading Act.
Goals not achieved
According to the Spreading Act, the Brabant municipalities must ensure around 14,700 reception places on July 1 this year. But the counter gets stuck in around 8,900 places.
Several municipalities say that it is very difficult to find suitable locations. “We are a small municipality and have no suitable buildings or locations available,” says the municipality of Waalre. Several municipalities come with similar responses.
This is how the Spreading Act works
The Spreading Act determines how many asylum seekers a municipality must take care of. That number is based on the number of inhabitants and the prosperity of a municipality. In Brabant, municipalities made agreements with each other in five regions about the distribution. For example, one village or city takes care of the shelter of asylum seekers in the region, while Ukrainians are housed somewhere else.
What also does not help is the attitude of the national government. Municipalities do not feel well helped and miss clarity in communication. In December, the Ministry of Asylum and Migration determined that best not 192, as agreed with other municipalities in the region, but must take care of 88 people.
“This decision caused a lot of confusion and frustration, especially because we had already fully focused on the original task,” the municipality said. “The conflicting signals make it difficult to create and maintain local support and decide to substantiate carefully.”
Unrest
The arrival of reception locations regularly causes great social unrest. As a result, the Roosendaal city council decided not to agree with the proposed reception location. In Sint-Michielsgestel, the municipality decided to stop the process ‘as a result of the social and political unrest and the disproportionate impact on society as a whole’.
At the town hall in Sint-Michielsgestel, a protest got out of hand last April:
Due to the (possible) unrest, several municipalities say that they like to realize small -scale reception locations. “Our experience is that this leads to more support,” says the municipality of Heusden about this. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), however, has a preference for larger locations. For small -scale care, relatively more staff and money is needed. Several locations that municipalities had in mind have therefore been rejected by the COA.
Unpredictability ministry
Several municipalities experience cooperation with the national government as difficult. “We also noticed that civil servants with whom we have contact sometimes also get stuck in the changing policy and course of their ministry,” says Goirle.
Dongen also has difficulty with that. “The COA has difficulty making clear agreements with the ministry, so that many things have to be returned to the ministry. This makes the process complicated and slows the progress.” The ministry has not yet responded to questions about this.
National discussion about Spreading Act
In national politics, there has been a discussion for a long time about withdrawing the Spreading Act. The outgoing cabinet intended to withdraw the Spreading Act, but did not take any concrete steps to implement that. The Brabant municipalities indicate that the discussion about whether or not to withdraw the law has had no influence on decision -making.
