In Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, it turned out on Tuesday that 42 asylum seekers have been accommodated in a hotel since July, without the municipality being aware of this. The municipality of Purmerend had to find out via the telephone that a hundred status holders will arrive in a hotel in two weeks. Both locations are Van der Valk hotels.
The municipality of Zuidplas, which includes Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, first heard about the asylum seekers’ residence when a number of them reported to the municipal office on Wednesday with a care request. For privacy reasons, the spokesperson for the municipality will not comment on what kind of care demand is involved.
substandard
When municipal officials subsequently visited the hotel, some of the basic facilities, which the COA normally arrange, turned out to be substandard. For example, there were not enough clothes and toys for the children and there were not enough diapers for a baby who stayed there. The municipality has complained about this to the COA. The group will remain at the hotel until August 27.
It happens more often that asylum seekers are accommodated in hotels. Fletcher Hotels, for example, has equipped five entire hotels to accommodate Ukrainians since April 1. Several security regions had asked the hotel chain to do so. These are hotels in Naaldwijk, Steenwijk, Roden, Arcen and Beekbergen. Asylum seekers are now accommodated in the last hotel, who will stay there for a maximum of one and a half weeks.
The hotel chain does not earn much from the rental of the hotels, says Ben de Ruijter, operational director of Fletcher Hotels Netherlands. ‘The rest of our 110 hotels have been full all summer at good rates. So we do this mainly from a social point of view.’ Some of the Ukrainians who stay in the hotels now also work for the hotel chain.
Not required
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) is not obliged to inform municipalities if it receives asylum seekers in hotels. But both the municipality of Purmerend and the municipality of Zuidplas would have liked to have known in advance, they say in a response. “Because these are asylum seekers, we would have liked to have informed the residents in advance to prevent unrest,” says the spokesperson for the Zuidplas municipality.
Last Tuesday it was announced that the COA had purchased a hotel in Albergen for the reception of 150 to 300 asylum seekers without the knowledge of the municipality of Tubbergen. The municipality of Tubbergen reacted with dismay to that purchase. “It does not fit The Hague just throwing this over the fence,” said responsible VVD alderman Ursula Bekhuis.
COA was not available for comment on Friday. They previously informed Omroep West that in the case of the hotel in Nieuwerkerk aan de IJssel, it is a matter of miscommunication. Normally, COA informs municipalities when asylum seekers or status holders are accommodated in a hotel.