A small group of people demonstrate in front of the Venlo town hall. A woman has the slogan “Azc no” on her mobility scooter. A man walks around with a sign asking “Where is your limit?” and a stick on which an inverted Dutch flag and banner with the image of a dove of peace flutter. Every so often he sounds his megaphone.
Inside, Inge Simons, leader of the VVD, speaks of “the most difficult decision in years”. With emotion in her voice and biting her lip, she hints at the threats and intimidation of recent times: “We also have children. We too have been awake at night. What people ram on their keyboard in a few seconds leaves significant scars on people.”
B and W of Venlo is asking the city council this Wednesday evening to agree to the settlement of 328 asylum seekers in the former Bethany monastery on the outskirts of the city. Simons is – under strict conditions – one of the proponents.
The tense situation leads to an unusual council meeting, with the town hall only opening half an hour before the start. There are security guards at the entrance. Just like at the stairs up and in front of the entrance to the council chamber. For safety reasons, the public must watch images of the meeting three floors below. Reactions are posted online via social media, warning council members of the consequences if they come out after agreeing to an asylum seekers’ center.
During the debate, almost all speakers draw attention to a balance between humane care and limiting the nuisance to the immediate environment as much as possible. Bethany is located on the southeast side of the city near neighborhoods with quite a few social problems and with green areas where homeless migrant workers hang out. Mayor Antoin Scholten (VVD) says he will strictly monitor safety. He emphasizes that the problems at asylum seekers’ centers with more people in smaller municipalities elsewhere in Limburg are manageable.
No beauty prize
One of the recurring criticisms is that the council always informed the Venlo community and the municipal council piecemeal and often not very clearly. There were various numbers of asylum seekers circulating, from a minimum of 55 imposed by the government on the basis of the dispersal law to a maximum of 600. Jack van den Hombergh, party leader of the CDA, called the information provision “not transparent”. “The process does not deserve any beauty prize,” says Bram Beurskens, group leader of EenLokaal. “And that is an understatement.”
According to Denis Donders of the PVV, the council “has already made all agreements at an earlier stage with the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers. The municipal council – as is often the case – only has to sign the cross.”
Councilor Frans Schatorjé (care, welfare and education, EenLokaal) apologized for the process. “That caused uncertainty and concern.” The mayor promised an evaluation and improvement.
For the PVV, the Transformation Party and the Oruç Party, these apologies were not enough. They submitted a motion of no confidence against the entire council. They were the only parties willing to go that far.
A cap with the text ‘Stop AZC’ on the coat rack during a committee meeting of the municipality of Venlo in November.
photo ROB ENGELAAR/ANP
Conditions
The municipal council stipulated a number of additional conditions before the council meeting and during the meeting. The asylum seekers’ center may not become a registration point, and no ‘safe landers’ or asylum seekers with major psychological problems or criminal behavior may be housed there. The council also wants 328 people to be the maximum. In the recent past, the same number of migrant workers were housed in the former monastery.
The discussion about the asylum seekers’ center led to direct and indirect threats long before Wednesday’s meeting. Mayor Scholten and his home received security. He filed a report against spokesperson Dennis Bekkema of the working group that opposes the arrival of the shelter. Bekkema called Scholten “a tumor in the municipal council” and “our mentally ill mayor”.
PVV leader Geert Wilders expressed his support for the opponents: “They are rightly opposed to a new asylum center in their city.”
This was reason for councilor John Spijksma (PvdA) on Wednesday evening to speak of “cheap incitement. It is of course also an illusion that you can create a safer living environment with threatening language. Stop that!”
In the run-up to the decision, names of council members were published with the warning that they would be looked up if the arrival of the asylum seekers’ center led to incidents. It raised the question to what extent local politicians could still determine their opinions without burden and consultation. Council members received tips from the municipality and the police on how to act in the event of a risk or confrontation.
The tense atmosphere surrounding decision-making in Venlo led to a full-page advertisement in the daily newspaper at the end of last month The Limburger under the motto “Stop. Limburg draws a line”. It was signed by the King’s Commissioner, mayors, aldermen, councilors, members of the Executive and Provincial Council and directors of the Limburg Water Board. Their message: “Shouting, insulting, intimidating, threatening? We are done with it!”
Also read
Council members adjust their work due to aggression surrounding the arrival of asylum seekers’ centers. ‘My fear is that we are legitimizing violence’
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