In Amsterdam, too, the bed-bath-bread scheme that accommodates people without a residence permit must remain open for the time being. The judge has yet to make a ruling, but has finished X announced on Tuesday that “reception must be continued, because no commitment can be made that all foreigners will be eligible for reception again after January 1.”
As of January, Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber (PVV) no longer wants to make money available for the National Alien Services (LVV), as the bed-bath-bread scheme is formally called. She believes that undocumented migrants can go to the so-called freedom-restricting location (vbl) in Ter Apel and that the state is therefore also meeting its duty of care.
Proceedings in five cities
In the five cities that have an alien shelter, emergency procedures have been (or are still ongoing) in recent days in which undocumented migrants demand that the shelter remain open. In Rotterdam and Utrecht it has also been decided that shelters must remain open for the time being. In Eindhoven the minister is doing well: the municipality will now pay for the shelter itself. In Groningen, lawyer Pim Fisher, who assists people in all cities, will take further steps.
The judges in Rotterdam and Utrecht already disputed that the restrictive location is an alternative to the bed-bath-bread arrangement. There are hardly any beds available in the VBL and it is unclear whether the undocumented migrants in question meet the entry conditions. For example, ‘return shelter’ is in principle only available to people who can and want to return to their country of origin. Faber was also unable to substantiate that care in the VBL would be cheaper.
Because these are emergency procedures in all cities – otherwise the undocumented would be on the streets next week – the arrangement has not been definitively saved. The administrative judge in The Hague will have to make a longer-term judgment later.
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