A group of minor asylum seekers who are being accommodated in a tent in Stadskanaal was given moldy bread for breakfast on Friday morning.
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) confirms this to the NOS after the Dutch Council for Refugees filed a complaint.
The children sleep two nights in Stadskanaal because the registration center in Ter Apel is overcrowded – there are currently 300 minors staying there, while there is room for 55.
According to the COA, ‘start-up problems’ are the cause of the spoiled breakfast. According to the spokesperson, the minors have now been given lunch.
Refugee Work Netherlands states that the reception, not just the food, has been substandard for some time.
Since Friday, a maximum of 55 children who want to apply for asylum without parents may be taken care of in Ter Apel, the judge decided two weeks ago in summary proceedings brought by the Dutch Council for Refugees.