Again no beds for 120 refugees in Ter Apel: ‘They have to sleep on chairs’ | Inland

The cause of the crowds tonight is the closure of two reception locations in Breda and Nijmegen. Some of the approximately two hundred people were taken to a crisis emergency shelter in Heerenveen, but the part that no longer fit there was now forced to return to the asylum seekers’ center in Ter Apel, according to the spokesperson.

Earlier today, COA warned that it could get busy tonight. “It will be exciting again and it cannot be ruled out that people will have to spend the night in the waiting area,” a spokesperson said.

For weeks, COA has been struggling with great crowds in the center where all refugees in the Netherlands have to report before they are sent to other places. As a result, COA often has to find extra places to sleep at the last minute and asylum seekers sometimes sleep on chairs. There is room for two thousand people in Ter Apel. In order to relieve Ter Apel, the 25 security regions in the Netherlands have to start from the middle of this week Create 150 reception places per region†

Facilities have now been completed in four regions. It is unclear which regions have already fulfilled their commitment. However, it was announced last week that Friesland was the first to provide 150 shelter places. The Security Council referred questions about other security regions to the Ministry of Justice and Security. The ministry could not be reached for comment.

The COA does expect extra reception places from the security regions in the middle of this week to receive asylum seekers who arrive in Ter Apel. “Then we get considerably more air,” said a spokesman.

In the video below, Minister Hugo de Jonge and State Secretary Eric van der Burg explain their plans to solve the emergency surrounding refugee reception: