Councilor Karin van Werven cannot say how large this group was, but according to her it was mainly a nuisance in the form of whistling and shouting. Residents of the asylum boats are also said to have stopped in front of houses (calling), drinking alcohol on the street and displaying other intimidating behavior. Previous reception periods were relatively quieter.
Because of this unrest, the council decided on this method of shelter allow one more timebut with additional measures.
Different group dynamics on board
Astrid de Vries, location manager of COA in ‘t Gooi, says that the group dynamics during the previous reception period in the port indeed felt different than in previous periods. She cannot say exactly what this is due to.
It is expected that this time it will be different. One third of this group of boat residents consists of women. Normally the percentage of women on the asylum boats is much lower. “We are surprised by that amount,” says De Vries.
Addressing ‘neighborhood connectors’ in the wine lounge
One of the striking new measures is the deployment of two so-called ‘district connectors’. They walk through the neighborhood wearing an orange vest and sit in the nearby Riva Wine Lounge on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. to answer questions from local residents. They must form the link between the boat and the neighborhood.
One of these neighborhood connectors is Geralynn. Because of her other job in healthcare, she does not want to be identified and called by her last name. But local residents can recognize her by her orange vest and can speak to her in the wine lounge.
According to her, local residents and entrepreneurs already know where to find her by email. “We receive a lot of questions, such as where you can donate clothing. But also someone who asked about the pizza boxes lying around on the port grounds. One man even indicated that he saw a number of young people smoking weed, did not feel safe and that they had not said hello to him.”
What happens next after the asylum boats have sailed?
Despite the departure of the asylum boats after April 1, the municipality of Huizen must still comply with the dispersal law, which obliges the municipality to accommodate 200 asylum seekers.
It is still unclear how the municipality will arrange this if the boats disappear early next year.