Last night 2050 asylum seekers slept in the registration center in Ter Apel. For the sixth day in a row and for the tenth time this month, the number of 2000 limit is exceeded.
That is why the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) must again pay a penalty of 50,000 euros to the municipality of Westerwolde. The total amount has now risen to half a million euros.
The number of asylum seekers fluctuates around 2050 in recent days. Sometimes it is slightly above, sometimes something underneath, but the COA is unable to get under the maximum permitted number.
According to the COA, the cause is not with the inflow, but with the flow of asylum seekers. There are too few reception places at other locations, so that people stay in Ter Apel for too long.
The occupation increased extra rapidly last month because some temporary reception locations closed their doors. As a result, the flow is even further. The COA calls on other municipalities to take responsibility.
In the meantime, the municipality of Leiden has given the De Helpende Hand registration center. A maximum of eighty people are taken care of there for which there is no room in Ter Apel.