“I didn’t come here to negotiate. I came here to listen and to explain why we had to make this decision.’ Even before the start of the public council meeting where the State Secretary for Asylum is a guest, he clears up any possible misunderstanding: Eric van der Burg Tubbergen does not have much more than a portion of understanding to offer tonight.
When several microphones are pushed under his nose, he repeats his words patiently but firmly. ‘That man tells the same thing three times’, one listener sighs.
Dissatisfaction will not take the form of big words or gestures in Twente on Tuesday. Around the town hall in Tubbergen it is already teeming well before the loaded visit of the agents and enforcers. The tractors that are feared are staying away. From a terrace there is only some grumbling when the square is closed off. A resident from Albergen, where the unwanted asylum seekers’ center will be located, hands out ice cream. “Otherwise they’ll just melt.”
The number of cameras far exceeds the number of rioters. A platoon of local residents that has come to cycle the five kilometers from Albergen is expertly intercepted by the news – there is no escape. Once again they explain that they are not against the reception of asylum seekers. But ‘t Elshuys, with its 27 rooms, is not suitable for the reception of 150 to 300 asylum seekers, in a village with only three thousand inhabitants, they say.
“The announcement hit us raw,” says mayor Wilmien Haverkamp when she led Van der Burg into the council chamber. ‘The situation in Ter Apel is distressing’, she admits. According to her, reception in her municipality is indeed negotiable. “But in consultation.”
Lingering conflict
The arrival of the State Secretary to the Tubbergen city council emphasizes the seriousness of the lingering conflict about asylum reception between the central government and municipalities. Such a visit is unusual. The accusations have been going back and forth for a year and a half. The government believes that too few municipalities make a contribution of their own accord. About two-thirds of the more than three hundred Dutch municipalities do not have an asylum seekers’ center.
‘I would rather not have been here,’ says Van der Burg in the lion’s den. ‘I don’t want to make any decisions that force a municipality to do anything.’ It doesn’t help for the support, he knows. But: ‘We have a situation in which people sleep outside.’
He is referring to Ter Apel, where a dubious record number of four hundred people spent the night on the grass in front of the registration center for two nights in a row. ‘I consider that a defeat. We just need more shelter places.’
Municipalities, in turn, believe that the central government puts the reception problem on their plate and takes too little control. But now that Van der Burg has taken control, that is not going down well in Tubbergen in any case. “Democracy was severely damaged last week,” said councilor Christel Luttikhuis (CDA). ‘We do not deny that there is a reception problem,’ says Noortje Haarman (VVD). ‘We are a hospitable municipality, which noabership want to help. But suddenly we are sidelined.’
Residents near the hotel are allowed to join the council chamber. Other interested parties can follow the meeting on a large screen in the ‘t Oale Roadhoes conference center across the street. It’s packed there.
Silent march
The State Secretary had already wanted to come to Overijssel last week, but Mayor Haverkamp thought it better to calm things down a bit first. The administrative surprise led to several protests in Albergen last week and even a silent march. “Without consultation, the cabinet will take our vote away,” one of the banners read.
When the news that there would be an asylum seekers’ center reached Overijssel, villagers immediately wanted to buy the hotel themselves – the same thing happened once in Vught. That was precisely the reason why Van der Burg deliberately did not inform the village before the deal was closed. He wanted to prevent COA from being cut off.
And no, he did not visit the location himself, he says. Jerking off is his portion. “I also understand that I’m not going to convince you tonight.”
Then a council-wide motion is passed that calls on the municipal council to enter into a discussion with Van der Burg. He always wants to talk, says Van den Burg, but that will not stop the asylum seekers’ center. The State Secretary hopes not to have to ignore a city council again somewhere in the Netherlands, but he does not rule out coercion if necessary.
Discussions are now underway about a second registration center in Bant (Flevoland) and a special reception location with less freedom for ‘safe immigrants’. For the time being, the State Secretary is caught between three fires: a bulging Ter Apel, unsympathetic municipalities and a grumbling VVD supporters. The word ‘asylum stop’ was used in fire letters signed by various local party members. But the minister helped those members again, and again this evening: the Netherlands is bound by international treaties and cannot escape shelter, he says.
inhumane
“But three hundred people in this hotel is inhumane, the number too big for our village,” says Jules Lucas, who lives six doors down. ‘These are too many new ones noabers in one go.’ Fellow Alberger Tenniglo: ‘You want to house them. We have one police officer, Mr Van der Burg. How much security come there?’
The State Secretary, again patient and determined: ‘Asylum seekers are not all thieves and looters.’
The fact that they have not been spoken to is a major concern for local residents. Hennie de Haan: ‘Why did you pass us by? We believe that the asylum crisis is not the fault of the citizens, but of politicians.’
‘I think you have a point there,’ says Van der Burg. It is also ‘bad luck’, with the unforeseen reception of Ukrainians and more ‘followers’ for family reunification, now that the travel restrictions have been lifted after corona. But after the high influx in 2015, the minister acknowledges that asylum seekers’ centers are closed far too quickly. “We just didn’t do it right.” Then there is applause.