Last weekend again too many asylum seekers slept in the registration center in Ter Apel. Both Saturday and Sunday night the limit of 2000 people was exceeded.
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) must now pay another 100,000 euros in penalty payments to the municipality of Westerwolde. The counter for the past weeks is now at 300,000 euros.
The COA has been struggling with a shortage of reception places for a long time. The result is that people cannot move on from Ter Apel and everything accumulates there. The problem is that here and there reception places disappear because contracts end locations and they must therefore conclude. Instead, there are too few new places.
The border was passed for the first time since the end of last year at the beginning of this month. By transferring people to other locations, it was previously possible to get under the limit. The COA already emphasized that it remained tight.
The total amount that COA reception body has to pay to the municipality of Westerwolde can amount to five million euros.