‘Reception village Ukrainians is an option’ – NRC

Several ministries are preparing behind the scenes for a major refugee crisis, which may see hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians receive shelter over the next six months. An inventory, held by NRC, mentions the possibility of housing thousands of Ukrainian refugees in ‘refugee villages’ in that case. The police, the Netherlands Council for Refugees and the Red Cross, among others, were consulted for the inventory.

State Secretary Eric van den Burg (Asylum, VVD) wrote to the House of Representatives last week that the Netherlands is also taking into account a “prolonged situation in which the reception of people from Ukraine will increase considerably”. The inventory contains more details than the letter to parliament. It says that Ukrainians in a refugee village could assist the police in maintaining public order – “self-organization”. The Red Cross can mobilize 100,000 “civil volunteers” to help, the document said.

Chance of exploitation

The concerns of the consulted organizations are also mentioned in the document, the status of which is unclear. The chance of exploitation is “possibly greater than comes to light”, the police said. There are also concerns among the police that refugees from other countries are mixing with Ukrainians. “Identification is important.” But there are currently major problems with registering Ukrainians in municipal systems. Many Ukrainian refugees arrive without a passport.

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Shortly after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine four weeks ago, State Secretary Van der Burg announced that security regions must find 50,000 reception places. Municipalities were made responsible for the reception. On Thursday, 15,000 Ukrainians made use of shelters. There is no complete overview of refugees in the Netherlands: Ukrainians in Dutch host families are not registered.

If there is a shortage of shelter places, the government can intervene by means of an emergency law. State Secretary Van der Burg said on Wednesday to news hour not to believe in coercion; he prefers not to use it. But a Justice Department spokesperson confirms that the emergency law is ready and can be “dusted off” if necessary.

The emergency law is an amended measure that the then State Secretary Ankie Broekers-Knol (VVD) took at the end of last year. Broekers-Knol designated five municipalities that had to receive refugees in the short term. In January, Broekers-Knol acknowledged that the designation had no legal basis.

There is also a diligent search for shelters for refugees from other countries. They are received by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), which has been struggling for years with too few places. In Ter Apel, where all non-Ukrainian refugees have to report, even the camp beds are scarce. Asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, among others, spend their first night there on a chair or on the floor. If nothing is done, a spokesperson for Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland says, eventually “people will have to sleep on the street”.

The COA now receives more than 37,000 asylum seekers, partly in temporary places. According to the COA, approximately 42,000 reception places will be needed this year. But several locations are closing, because municipalities do not extend the contracts for the reception.

Many municipalities still want to make room for Ukrainian refugees. But, the inventory says, there are concerns that this “positive sentiment” may “turn.” It is important to “prepare well for that.”