Many Brabant factions of the VVD are incensed at the cabinet decision to open an asylum seekers center in the municipality of Tubbergen, against the wishes of the local government. Although many people understand the problems in asylum reception, passing the municipality is experienced as undesirable. “We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship.”
This week it turned out that the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has bought a hotel to accommodate 300 asylum seekers without the will of the municipality of Tubbergen. VVD State Secretary Eric van der Burg indicated that he could not rule out the possibility that this way will be acted more often in the coming period, in order to cope with the major problems in asylum reception.
Many party members of Van der Burg do not agree with this. The way of doing things evokes anger, according to a tour of Omroep Brabant in Brabant.
‘Fairer distribution’
“This is a policy that we absolutely do not support and it is of course a great pity that the State Secretary deems this necessary,” said the VVD Goirle, where there are doubts whether the situation is serious enough to justify such ‘draconian’ measures. “It is a bad thing if local politics is bypassed. We believe that more is achieved through cooperation than through coercion,” said the VVD in Gemert-Bakel.
The VVD Oss calls the state of affairs in Overijssel ‘not neat’, but is also understanding. “We also see that the problem is large and that the central government must take action on this. If municipalities do not take their own responsibility (we do in Oss), the central government must intervene in a fairer distribution.”
‘We are already doing our part’
The question of whether things can go as far in Brabant as in Tubbergen is a concern among many groups, although not everyone is afraid of it. Just like in Oss, the VVD Den Bosch also believes that the municipality is already taking responsibility: “We are already doing our bit when it comes to the reception of status holders and refugees from Ukraine,” said a spokesperson, who for that reason does not expect to be on the receiving end. to be in the sights of Van der Burg.
The VVD Boekel-Venhorst department is less convinced of this. “It is not inconceivable that our municipality could also be confronted with this.”
Dictatorship
In Boekel they are in any case the most outspoken about fellow party member Van der Burg. “From the liberal ideas of the VVD, it is unbearable and therefore unheard of for the State Secretary to overrule politics both provincially and locally,” the group believes.
The Boekel-Venhorst department is also clear about the statement that this may happen more often. They call it ‘a threat’. “Very inappropriate. We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship.”
Asylum stop
Just like the VVD Goirle, the VVD is also in Boekel for a total asylum stop. The other departments we spoke to do not want to go that far, but a temporary stop is proposed in several places. Although such a thing is up to The Hague, and not to local politics.