The Grave asylum seekers center will remain open until 2055. The Land van Cuijk city council has decided that. With the smallest possible majority, the Council agreed that the agreement with the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) will be extended and will therefore remain open even after 2031.
The plans to open the AZC for longer came remarkably. There is a secondary school in front of the (asylum) children on the AZC site. The building is very outdated and needs to be refurbished and expanded. Normally the municipality pays for refurbishing a school building.
There are 220 students at the school. Half of those students live at the AZC in Grave. But the municipality does not want to run the risk that if after 2031 the asylum seekers’ center will close, she will remain with a half -occupied school. For example, the plan is now to extend the AZC to 2055 and then the COA pays the renovation of the school.
“We have a responsibility to properly absorb people.”
Coalition party Team Local wanted to postpone the decision for the time being. The party believes that the COA must first show that there are really improvements in the field of safety, support and communication. “Only then must a new contract be concluded,” said councilor Helma Pluk. “We are right for shelter, but the concerns of residents must be taken seriously.” The party therefore votes against the now extending the agreement with the COA.
CDA, the largest party in the council, is behind the proposal. Councilor Albrecht Martens: “We have a responsibility to properly compensate people. At the same time there are clear conditions in the new contract: in the event of nuisance or problems it can be terminated prematurely.”
“The money was only looked at.”
And that’s how Mayor Marieke Moorman is in it. “This contract extension gives us the opportunity if there is too much nuisance, we can close the AZC sooner.”
Liberal Land van Cuijk expressed strong criticism. Group chairman Hennie Bongers thought that the school and the AZC were wrongly linked to each other. “The assessment is only financially and ignores the concerns of local residents,” says Bongers. According to him, this undermines the trust of residents.
“We take the worries seriously.”
GroenLinks-PvdA found that the proposal offers better conditions than the current contract with the COA. “We take concerns seriously, but we should not forget that this is about people,” said councilor Esmee van der Ham. “With this new contract we can set requirements for safety and communication.”
Opposition party VVD sees nothing in the proposal. “The AZC in Grave was temporary,” says Judith Logtens. “An extension of 30 years is going too far for us. So let’s just pay the school ourselves.” Forum for Democracy finds it irresponsible that a decision has been made based on too little information.
The proposal was ultimately accepted with 1 vote difference.