For the time being, no asylum seekers will be accommodated on cruise ships at sea, as a solution to the shortage of reception places. That writes State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD) in a letter submitted to Parliament on Thursday. The reasons for this are that resupplying ships is ‘difficult’ and that shelter at sea entails certain ‘security risks’. After all, it is not possible to sail asylum seekers to and from the ship at all times with a shuttle service.
Now that the reception of asylum seekers on cruise boats at sea has been cancelled, it is unclear whether it will be possible to have three cruise ships already hired to dock. The first option, mooring a cruise ship in the port of Velsen in North Holland, is scheduled to be ready in September as a reception location. This concerns a cruise ship that can accommodate 1,000 to 1,200 asylum seekers. 1,000 places are reserved for the regular reception of asylum seekers, 200 as emergency reception in the event that the reception location in Ter Apel overflows again.
Quays too weak
At the end of June, the Municipal Executive and the Velsen city council have already approved the arrival of the cruise ship for a period of six months. But for the time being, according to Rijkswaterstaat, that port is not suitable for such a seaworthy cruise ship. The so-called bollards, large poles to which such a cruise ship is moored, are too weak, according to research by Rijkswaterstaat. The risk is then too great that the quay will fail and dangerous situations can arise. The same applies to the moment when strong gusts will arise next autumn. Even then, according to Rijkswaterstaat, there is a risk that the quay will collapse. It is still being investigated whether the quay and mooring place can still be made suitable, and whether this will be possible before the September deadline. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) now assumes this; the option on the cruise ship has now been converted into a permanent contract.
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Another option for docking smaller river cruise boats is still in reserve. It is being investigated how many of these boats can safely moor in the harbor and how many asylum seekers can be accommodated there. The municipality of Velsen says it will stick to a maximum reception period of six months. The reception locations must disappear again by next March at the latest, regardless of the question of when COA will succeed in reaching an agreement with Rijkswaterstaat about the suitability of the mooring location(s). According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security, consultations are still underway with two municipalities elsewhere in the Netherlands with a seaport about the possibility of mooring large cruise ships there. It is unknown whether those ports are sufficiently equipped for such ships.
No structural solutions
A structural solution to the asylum reception crisis is not yet in sight, according to the letter from State Secretary Van der Burg. At present, approximately 4,100 of the intended 5,625 reception places have been realised. This should provide relief in the ‘very short term’ for the overcrowded application center in Ter Apel, where tens to hundreds of asylum seekers have been staying outside in appalling conditions since the beginning of July. “An untenable situation,” the state secretary calls it.
According to Van der Burg, COA will open three new reception locations with a total of 780 places in the coming weeks, in The Hague, Delft and Voorschoten. It has now also been made easier for COA to buy up properties if it can accommodate asylum seekers there.