A crowded public gallery and a few more dozens of people in the reception hall of the house of Roosendaal. The consultation meeting about the possible arrival of an asylum seekers’ center in Heerle will be visited on Wednesday evening.
Nineteen speakers are given the opportunity to give their opinion about the possible placement of three hundred refugees in the village. After that, municipal councilors may ask additional questions. Each speaker gets five minutes to explain his or her position.
One hundred people have registered to be present at the meeting, a spokesperson for the municipality of Roosendaal reports. Among them, most of them are representatives of the working group ‘Leave Heerle alone’. Their resistance focuses primarily on the number of asylum seekers to be housed. They fear that the number of three hundred asylum seekers will disrupt the social structure of the community on a population of more than eighteen hundred.
On behalf of ‘Leave Heerle alone’, André Timmermans called the number of asylum seekers ‘disproportionate’. “How are you going to guarantee our peace and safety and how should we have three hundred people integrated into a small village like Heerle?” He opened openly. “I think it’s a very bad plan.”
Mark Maurits lives next to the intended plot on the Bergse Baan. His emotional argument visibly impressed the council members. “You have no idea of my grief. I’m emotionally on the ground. How would you find it when you invested in a nice place for twenty years and soon have to look out on a block box? I am not a racist, but I hope you look at yourself in the mirror when you make the decision. ”
Other speakers believe that the municipality has not made enough effort to investigate alternative places. Among them Guido Sans of ‘No AZC Heerle!’. “No second Ter Apel, not azc in Heerle,” said Sanen.
To assure
A consultative who works in youth care in daily life, expressed her care about the accommodation of fifty minor asylum seekers in the AZC. “Boredom and loneliness are risk factors. These are young people with often traumatic experiences or psychosocial problems. I know what the consequences can be. “
“A number of fifty can be compared with a small youth care institution where normally two supervisors are out of ten young people,” she continued. “Here there will be only one supervisor in the entire group. That is asking for problems.”
Extra screens
Due to the great interest, the municipality has hung extra screens in the hall of the city office where people can follow the presentations. During the arguments that are being held, there is no discorder from the public gallery. People listen carefully and quietly.
Prior to the meeting there was a short demonstration in front of the city office. The municipality had taken measures to steer everything in the right direction. There was security and an access control. The demonstration went smoothly.
On 2 April, the city council will make a final decision on the reception for asylum seekers in Heerle.