The first safe residents who registered last week at the new department in the azc of Ter Apel have already left.
That is what demissionary State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Eric van der Burg says. The new process availability location (PBL) has been opened since last week. Van der Burg had already planned his visit before the fall of the cabinet because he wanted to find out how residents of Ter Apel and Nieuw-Weerdinge are doing since the opening of the PBL
The invited inhabitants of Nieuw-Weerdinge still see a lot happening in the village. While they wait for the minister, they show videos of asylum seekers who ring doorbells and then go into the garden, a bus driver talks about the chaos when boarding: “They just don’t want to pay.” The problem is still there after a week not resolved, Van der Burg knows.
The PBL is the first stop for so-called safe citizens from mainly North African countries who apply for asylum in the Netherlands. Many of them cause nuisance and break the law. The new location is a part of the azc closed off with 4 to 5 meter high fences.
Sober PBL
Safelanders who arrive go to the PBL and must be prepared to be called up at any time. This would prevent them from leaving the terrain and wandering through villages. The reception is modest. Of the fifty to one hundred places that were to be built, ten are now in use. In principle, asylum seekers here must hear within a week whether they are eligible for the follow-up procedure. Safelanders who were already in the azc still follow the ‘old’ procedure.
,,We started with a small group”, says Van der Burg. “But you can see that people are already saying: ‘but wait, if this is the shelter, then I will leave for somewhere else. want more shelters, he says. Van der Burg expects that ’99 out of 100’ of people who do go through the entire accelerated procedure will be told after a short time that they cannot stay in the Netherlands.
A success? The outgoing State Secretary thinks it is still too early to say anything about that. ,,I don’t think you can draw a conclusion of ‘success’ after seven days. It’s nice that it’s running now. We have to grow from ten places to more, so that we can get more and more people through the system.” Van der Burg wants the PBL to be given the opportunity to expand this further at its own pace. “Speed may lead to mistakes.”
Sign to waive shelter
Safe citizens who do not want to stay in the PBL can indicate this and sign for it. This means that they will waive shelter and that they will receive an area ban for the municipalities of Westerwolde or Emmen. They are expelled from the congregation. If they come back, they are committing a crime. In that case, the Public Prosecution Service will get involved, says van der Burg.
Don’t other places get into trouble with these people? “Practice shows that these boys travel further if they do not receive shelter in the Netherlands.”
Mayor Jaap Velema van Westerwolde visited the PBL together with the State Secretary. He said afterwards that he was impressed by the working method that was set up there in a short time by the parties involved, such as the COA and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND).
Still worried about reception capacity
“The reception is done in a humane way and the underprivileged asylum seekers who stay there will receive clarity about their procedure within eight days, much faster than until now,” says Velema. He emphasizes that those involved can appeal if they are told that they are not allowed to stay.
The mayor said that little by little the number of underprivileged refugees in the PBL will be increased and that eventually the entire ‘target group’ in Ter Apel will stay there. Then, given the stricter regime, the nuisance in Ter Apel should decrease and also in Nieuw-Weerdinge.
Velema emphasized that in addition to this approach to the nuisance, there are still great concerns about the reception capacity in Ter Apel and the entire country. In previous summers, asylum seekers slept on the grass in front of the asylum center in Ter Apel, many are currently staying in emergency shelter. Velema therefore hopes that the Distribution Act will give the government the opportunity to better allocate reception places.
If the House of Representatives says ‘no’ to further discussion of the Distribution Act on September 12, it can only come into effect when there is a new cabinet, says Van der Burg. ,,But Ter Apel should not have to deal with the same situation as last year”, he promises.