Dozens of asylum seekers had to spend the night in the waiting area of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) in Ter Apel this week. That happened on chairs or mattresses – on the floor.
“There was not immediately a bed available for everyone,” the COA writes the website. The reason is an acute shortage of shelter places and asylum seekers who reported to the registration center late in the evening or at night in recent days.
“Normally we have room in the night shelter,” a spokesperson explains RTV North. “But that hasn’t really worked for a number of days.”
The COA emphasizes that it urgently needs additional shelters to be able to offer everyone shelter. “The pressure on asylum reception remains high.”
The emergency shelter in Biddinghuizen (Flevoland), which can accommodate up to 1,250 asylum seekers, offers relief. “But not immediately,” COA adds: “Because we can only gradually transfer people there.”