There is room for about three hundred asylum seekers on WH Keesomlaan. The reception location should actually have been ready in October, but that turned out to be too ambitious. The building will open at the end of March, after a six-month delay. Before then, neighbors and other interested parties will have the opportunity to take a look.
That means there still room for two hundred asylum seekers must be found. They cannot also be housed on Keesomlaan, ‘because the character of the location would become too massive’, the municipality previously wrote.
Actual numbers not yet known
The municipality emphasizes in a press release that nothing can yet be said about the numbers of asylum seekers and the composition of the group that will live on Keesomlaan. “That depends on the influx at Ter Apel at that time.”
Residents are offered daytime activities and are guided in learning Dutch and looking for work or training. Security guards from a company COA does business with are present at the location non-stop, and the police and enforcement include the location in their surveillance routes.
Minister Faber of Asylum and Migration decided that in the next six months no decisions are made about the asylum applications of Syrians. As soon as it is clear what the situation in Syria is like under the new rulers, Syrian refugees may be eligible for asylum again.
Integration and participation
Asylum seekers who are received in Amstelveen and who want to claim a residence permit have a chance to remain in the municipality as a status holder. The municipality of Amstelveen and COA made agreements about this earlier this year, following a motion by D66 councilor Saloua Chaara. “That promotes integration and participation,” she explained her struggle.