The number of asylum seekers in the registration center in Ter Apel has been covered by the maximum of the permitted 2,000. Last night 1,988 people slept, the lowest number in about two weeks.
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) managed to achieve this by transferring asylum seekers to other locations. The COA agreed with the municipality of Westerwolde that a maximum of 2,000 people can stay in the Groningen registration center.
Last month that was exceeded a maximum of fourteen times. The COA must pay a penalty of 50,000 euros to the municipality for each day that too many asylum seekers arrive. As a result, the fine rose to seven tons in September.
In the night from Monday to Tuesday, 2,120 people slept in the center. That means that 132 people were transferred more in the course of the day than new ones have arrived. For example, seventy to eighty people went to an empty church in Leiden, which was set up as a crisis shelter.
In the course of this month, the pressure will probably decrease further due to the opening of the emergency shelter on the event site in Biddinghuizen. There is room for a maximum of 350 asylum seekers.