Two delivery vans are parked in front of the gate of the asylum seekers’ center in the Brabant village of Budel on Saturday afternoon, from which merchants sell vegetables, fruit, eggs, chicken and other foodstuffs. It looks like a small market.
‘Cheap and halal’, beams one of the merchants, a Syrian who came to the Netherlands in 2014 and lives in Wijk bij Duurstede. ‘Apples 1 euro for a kilo, oranges too’, he says in cautious Dutch. ‘Do you know how much this bag of potatoes, five kilos, costs? 2.50 euros!’
A 30-year-old Syrian refugee who lives with his wife and two small children in the asylum seekers’ center buys a large bunch of parsley, Lebanese wraps and some vegetables. When asked about the atmosphere in the asylum seekers’ center, he says that he does feel quite unsafe. ‘No one really feels safe. There are often fights. Then at night the alarm goes off again and my children cry.’
Violence
In the asylum seekers’ center on a former barracks site, where almost 1500 asylum seekers are housed, six serious violent incidents have taken place in the past three months, including stabbing. A week and a half ago, there was a low point with two incidents in one day: after a fight in the afternoon, things went wrong again in the evening when a man was stabbed and was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
According to the Syrian refugee, who wishes to remain anonymous, the trouble started with a theft from a room in ‘building 2’. The thief was caught and a fight ensued. In the evening a large group went to get a story in ‘building 6’ where the thief lived. This led to a battle outside the building, in which someone was also stabbed. “One person was stabbed in the back – he was covered in blood,” the Syrian said.
Mayor Roland van Kessel of the municipality of Cranendonck, which Budel falls under, is fed up with the violence. “The measure is full,” says the VVD director at the town hall in Budel. “This sad series of incidents, from minor in nature to serious crimes of violence, must stop. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) must offer asylum seekers and its own employees a safe environment. Order must be restored with immediate effect.’
According to the mayor, it is mainly North African asylum seekers who have no chance of asylum who cause the most nuisance. They usually come from Morocco and Tunisia, which are considered ‘safe countries’, although they sometimes claim that they come from Algeria, which has been classified as an ‘unsafe country’ since last year, so that asylum applications from Algerians are processed (see inset). .
Support base
‘I am not saying that every safelander causes nuisance’, says Van Kessel. ‘But the nuisance is often caused by safelanders. They ruin it for everyone. Because of all those incidents, support for the asylum seekers’ center in our municipality has crumbled.’
Next Wednesday, the mayor, together with the Brabant king’s commissioner Ida Adema, will have an emergency meeting with State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Eric van der Burg about the explosive situation at the asylum seekers’ center. The minister will also take a look that day at the former Nassau-Dietz barracks, where German soldiers were based until 2005 as part of an exchange project, and where asylum seekers have been received since 2014.
After questions from concerned municipal councilors, mayor Van Kessel even has lawyers investigate whether the contract between the municipality and COA can be terminated immediately. The environmental permit for the asylum seekers’ center runs until July 2024, the administrative agreement with the COA until mid-2028.
However, it is doubtful whether the municipality can get out of the contract sooner. That would be a first: as far as we know, no agreement with COA has been terminated prematurely.
According to the mayor, the North African asylum seekers also cause nuisance in the villages of Budel and Maarheeze, such as shoplifting, bicycle theft, fare evasion on public transport, intimidation and threats to residents and shopkeepers. Some have drug problems.
Northern Ordinance
To guarantee public order and safety outside the asylum seekers’ center, the mayor announced an emergency ordinance last week. A security risk area has also been designated, in which the police have the opportunity to carry out preventive searches.
The first checks took place in that context on Saturday. The police arrested three people. One of them was carrying “a prepared bag of labeled clothing,” possibly from shoplifting. Another had a knife in his pocket.
According to the COA, there are currently about a hundred North African asylum seekers living in the Budel asylum seekers’ center. In December there were still two hundred and in November even three hundred. Until the end of last year, a one-year trial ran in which this group of hopeless asylum seekers was concentrated in Budel and Ter Apel. The North Africans lived in separate buildings in both asylum seekers’ centers and received ‘austere reception’, with extra security and without living allowance. Since last month, the group – about a thousand people – has again been spread over other asylum seekers’ centres.
The trial was mainly intended to reduce the attractiveness of the Netherlands for North African asylum seekers. The question now is whether the austere regime has not properly fueled the nuisance, and that, for example, residents who no longer receive pocket money are more likely to steal and run amok. According to the COA, an initial investigation has shown that this conclusion is not justified.
The COA has taken various measures to limit nuisance within the asylum seekers’ center, such as deploying extra security guards and intensifying room checks. According to a COA spokesperson, however, the municipality itself can also do more: ‘The police can be more present on the site, for example by patrolling more or carrying out house searches if necessary.’
At the market in front of the gate, the Syrian refugee mainly points out the Moroccan asylum seekers as causing nuisances. “They mainly come here for drugs and a place to sleep in the winter,” he claims. ‘They stay here for a few months, then leave for Belgium or Germany and come back after two years.’
The Syrian fruit and vegetable seller knows his customers, and knows who comes from where. Four young people in their twenties who arrive together from the asylum seekers’ center, for example. They buy some cans of energy drink and then continue on their way to Maarheeze, after which the seller states: ‘From Morocco.’
Algeria
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) are receiving signals that a number of hopeless asylum seekers from Morocco and Tunisia are posing as Algerians. Since the middle of last year, Algeria has been regarded by the Dutch government as an ‘unsafe country’, so that Algerian refugees, unlike Moroccans and Tunisians, do have a chance of asylum. “Our location managers have the strong impression that some North Africans incorrectly present themselves as Algerian,” said a COA spokesperson. ‘As a result, they didn’t have to go to the sober shelter, for example.’
Figures from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) show that 465 Algerians applied for asylum in the first half of last year. In the second half there were 640. In a response, the IND says it takes the signals about ‘fake Algerians’ very seriously and is investigating it. “In every asylum procedure, the nationality and identity of the applicant is carefully verified,” said an IND spokesperson. For example, asylum seekers without identity papers are questioned with ‘a number of specific questions about the country of origin, place of residence and state of affairs’. The language spoken by the asylum seeker is also examined.