The refugees in the crisis emergency shelter in Goirle really want to stay there. They have been in the Old Mission House since December. They actually have to leave on May 1, but the municipality will see if an extension is possible after all. Many residents of the emergency shelter would like that very much. “It’s a lot better here than in the sports halls where we were before.”
The shelter on Tilburgseweg opened in December and is planned to close again at the beginning of May. Nevertheless, the council in Goirle wants to see whether this can be extended. According to the COA, the demand for reception places has not decreased. The college must make a decision on the crisis emergency shelter in March.
In the recreation room of the shelter there are a few red sofas, a foosball table and a television. It is quiet and peaceful. Something the residents are not used to. Previously, they were collected in sports halls in Rucphen and Zevenbergen. That was far from ideal, say the refugees.
“You had no privacy at all.”
“That was not a good situation at all,” says one resident. “You had no privacy at all and it was small. Anyone could just walk in, because the living areas were separated by a kind of curtains.” While she is talking, the door opens and laughing, screaming children enter. “This is nothing at all,” she says with a smile.
Already in the first months that she was in the Netherlands, she tried to learn the language. That was difficult because of the noise in the sports hall. “I learned Dutch on my phone. I watched cartoons. To understand it, the volume had to be on the highest setting. It literally gave me an earache,” she says.
“It’s nice to have something to do.”
After five months she now speaks Dutch almost fluently, reads books and understands films and series. That works better here in Goirle, she says. “We have language lessons here almost every day and I also study myself.”
In addition to the Dutch lessons, a handful of other activities are organized. A man says that they can also move nicely now and then. “There is a woman with whom you can go for a walk and we can have sports lessons twice a week. It’s nice to have something to do.”
“I would really like to build a relationship with the people from Goirle.”
They think that the situation in Goirle cannot be compared to the sports halls where they used to be. However, they also see room for improvement here. “I would like to work,” she says. “I do voluntary work at care center de Guldenakker once a week. There I talk to people and to practice my Dutch.”
The male resident of the Oude Missiehuis lacks a circle of friends around him, he says. “I would really like to build a relationship with the people from Goirle. I’m done moving every time.”
For their own safety and that of their relatives in the country of origin, the interviewees remain anonymous.