A group of 175 asylum seekers is moving from the crisis shelter in Alkmaar to Bergen today. There are on a former soccer field pavilions furnished; here and there still a bit squeaky, creaking and not completely waterproof. “I think it’s a bit exciting if we don’t get any nuisance,” says a local resident.
But first go to the crisis shelter itself. Mayor of Bergen Lars Voskuil walks over with some pride the place where it used to be the BSV players kicked a ball. “Two weeks ago, the grass was still one and a half meters high here: unbelievable what has been put down in such a short time.”
Yesterday the press and interested local residents were given a tour. The pavilions, which were built along the Oudtburghweg, are somewhat reminiscent of the vaccination street on the Alkmaar Olympiaweg. They are two white tents with long corridors, shower rooms and bedrooms with bunk beds on either side.
“It is a pity that this is necessary, but I am very happy that we can offer this,” says Voskuil. According to him, there were hardly any complaints during an information evening for the neighborhood around the shelter. Bergen residents have opened their hearts, he describes. Yet a few outside the camera of NH Nieuws let it be known that they are not necessarily waiting for the group of refugees.
‘Hang up a camera’
“Blegh”, one responds when asked what she thinks. “They’ll be there until December 1? I’ll have to see that first.” Another family has mounted a camera ‘just to be sure’, aimed at the front door.
View the report below in the crisis shelter and the residents of Bergen we spoke to before. Text continues below
Asylum seekers are moving to Bergen today: “Exciting if we get nuisance” – NH Nieuws
Until December 1 (that date is fixed according to the mayor), the pavilions will mainly be ‘known’ asylum seekers, according to director Krishna Taneja of the Noord-Holland Noord Safety Region. “Most are the first received in Heiloo in the sports hall, the past few weeks in the Alkmaar cycling track and now they are coming to Bergen.”
This mainly concerns families with children from Syria. They are allowed to walk on and off the site and receive daytime activities, organized by volunteers. There are also about two hundred paid employees, ‘hostesses and men’.
Residents near the crisis shelter are allowed to come by, but a special e-mail address has also been set up for questions ([email protected]) or if someone experiences a nuisance. “In addition, there is security available 24 hours a day. But for emergencies you should always call 112. Although we certainly do not assume that this is necessary,” said the mayor.
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“As far as I’m concerned, they can stay longer,” responds a local resident of Bergen. “But I do know that there would eventually be homes and Bergen desperately needs them.”
About that BSV site: the city council decided on July 6, 2021 zoning plan Park de Beeck fixed. According to reports from the municipality, this is in the preparation phase for construction. Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023.
When refugees enter the Netherlands, they are first registered, so that the government knows who is here. That happens in Ter Apel. Normally, discussions with the Immigration and Naturalization Service would take place there, in order to start a procedure for applying for asylum if you are eligible.
But because it is so busy at Ter Apel, people are transferred to crisis shelters before the talks, such as in Bergen and earlier in Heiloo and Alkmaar. After Bergen, another place will be designated in consultation.
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