Just like last year, the municipality of Emmen wants a contribution of €500,000 to combat nuisance caused by safelanders. But until today it was deafeningly quiet in The Hague. According to Mayor Eric van Oosterhout of Emmen, it is high time that The Hague provides clarity about the €500,000 that he believes is needed.
History repeats itself for Van Oosterhout. Last year he asked Marjolein Faber, then asylum minister, for the same contribution. Faber promised that amount at the last minute. Emmen now uses this to finance the deployment of additional supervisors and a private security company to combat nuisance caused by safelanders from the asylum seekers’ center in Ter Apel.
According to Van Oosterhout, these measures are effective, but the situation remains vulnerable. Maintaining the scheme therefore remains a must. But the current funding for this expires on January 1.
Emmen advanced part of the money in the past. What will the municipality do if The Hague does not agree? “Then we will try to advance it again ourselves,” Van Oosterhout responds. “Then we have a safety net for at least the first quarter of 2026.”
But in the eyes of Van Oosterhout, that is actually a nonsense: using municipal money to combat symptoms, because a structural solution from The Hague is not forthcoming.
“The situation around Nieuw-Weerdinge and the asylum center has been causing unrest among residents and entrepreneurs for years. As long as this is not properly arranged, we will have to maintain security.”
The problems in Emmen have been going on for some time. Emmen struggles with the communication and coordination of the Ministry of Asylum. “I have good contact with the civil servants, but the minister himself hardly responds,” says the mayor.
No reason is given for the lack of response. “If it were said: please be patient, I will come back to it later. But not even that. There is simply no response.”
The process decision location (PBL) in the asylum seekers’ center, which was relaunched this year, is also far from bearing fruit, Van Oosterhout notes. Nuisance makers who end up in this must stay near the asylum seekers’ center and will be given an area ban for the area. But at the launch in June there was only room for five people.
“And that number is of course nothing at all, because it concerns a group of 100 to 150 nuisance causes,” sighs Van Oosterhout. The minister must provide policy, he believes. “Such as better distribution of those safe landers.”
Van Oosterhout says that he, together with the mayor of Westerwolde and the VNG, will continue to put pressure on The Hague. Even after the elections, the municipality will continue to press for a structural solution through members of the House of Representatives.
In the meantime, Van Oosterhout expects a response from the government. “If I receive a question to respond to something, I call back politely. It also has something to do with administrative decency.”
The Ministry of Asylum and Migration has informed the municipality of Emmen that money will be made available to tackle nuisance asylum seekers. This money becomes available through a scheme in the municipal fund, which municipalities can call on.
The conditions for this arrangement and the amount of the budget are expected to be announced in the autumn. Only then will it become definitively clear whether Emmen is eligible and whether the amount is high enough.