Where in the Netherlands is there room for Ukrainian refugees?

The reception capacity for refugees in the Netherlands will more than double in the short term. In addition to the existing 39,500 refugee reception capacity, 50,000 places will be added in the short term to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. Dutch municipalities must find at least 25,000 reception places in two weeks. Depending on the situation in Ukraine, another 25,000 places should be added afterwards. The 25 security regions are now primarily responsible for finding locations. The government will bear the costs.

This is the outcome of consultations between the Ministry of Justice and Security and the chairmen of the Security Council. The exact details will be discussed further on Monday. According to Tilburg mayor Theo Weterings, who is responsible for the refugee file within the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), municipalities must be ready in time to receive Ukrainian refugees and a crisis approach is required.

Justice has been struggling for months, even before the Ukraine crisis, with a structural shortage of reception locations of 8,000 places. Until now, municipalities were reluctant to make locations available. But according to Weterings, there is now “an exceptional situation with the unpredictable flows of refugees from Ukraine and Eastern Europe and locations must now be found. In the first instance, it is up to municipalities to come up with locations. If necessary, security regions can also designate locations and their chairpersons also have ‘in extreme cases’ the power to enforce decision-making.

Russian refugees too

The 25 safety regions are regional urban partnerships, responsible for fire services, disaster relief and crisis management, chaired by the mayor of the largest municipality in the region. They also have the legal authority to take emergency measures if a disaster or crisis makes this necessary. According to Weterings, this always takes place in consultation with the other mayors and the municipalities involved. “That perseverance is there, but I do not expect it to be used.”

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, estimated on Thursday that more than a million Ukrainians have been displaced. The estimated number is increasing sharply every day. In total, between three and seven million refugees are taken into account. It is still unknown how many of these will end up in the Netherlands. Refugee Work Netherlands takes into account that a Russian refugee flow will also start in the short term. “These signals are there,” said a spokesperson. “Russians who are fleeing repression in their own country, Russians in the Netherlands who do not dare to return because of the grim situation in their own country.”

appalling conditions

A call from the VNG earlier this week to municipalities to report locations did not yield much until Friday. Only eleven municipalities, including Amsterdam, The Hague, Ede, Eindhoven, Groningen and Haarlem, made themselves heard. But after the agreements about those 2,000 reception places per security region, those of South Holland South, Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Friesland and Haaglanden, among others, announced that they were making locations available. Mayor Jan van Zanen of The Hague, chairman of the Haaglanden security region, says he will enter into discussions with the eight municipalities in his region “to inform them about the task that awaits us”.

The Refugee Agency now warns that reception must above all also be humane. In a letter to State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD), Vluchtelingenwerk warns against the appalling conditions under which “thousands of refugees and asylum seekers are now living in emergency reception locations under bad and harmful conditions”. This emergency shelter is becoming increasingly permanent, according to Vluchtelingenwerk, as a result of which “people stay too long under bad and harmful conditions.”

According to Weterings, municipalities and provinces are now faced with the task of providing shelter for both groups: alternative locations for the emergency shelter of the refugees and shelter for the flow of Ukrainian refugees that await us. “Everything is under pressure because of the war in Ukraine.”