The Ter Apel application center is once again overcrowded. At least 100 people have to spend the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in a chair in the recreation room or the waiting area of the application center. This is reported by a spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).
There is room for 2000 people in Ter Apel. The application center has been struggling with large crowds for some time because the flow of permit holders from reception locations to homes has stagnated.
As a result, COA often has to find extra places to sleep at the last minute and asylum seekers sometimes sleep on chairs. According to the spokesperson, the registration center has also been busy in recent nights and about 50 people slept on chairs. It can also happen that people report to Ter Apel very late and therefore cannot get a bed.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum) announced last week that the security regions will take turns taking in people. Amsterdam-Amstelland, Zeeland, Groningen and Friesland were the first four security regions to provide emergency emergency shelter for six hundred asylum seekers for two weeks.