News item | 26-08-2022 | 18:39
The situation in the overcrowded application center in Ter Apel is untenable. There are insufficient (crisis emergency) shelters to receive people. Acute measures are needed to achieve immediate relief and to get out of and stay out of the crisis that has arisen. The cabinet, the VNG, IPO and the Security Council have therefore made agreements about the reception of asylum seekers and housing and integration of beneficiaries.
It is a total package of agreements. In order to alleviate the situation in Ter Apel, the aim is to organize an emergency reception location in a nearby municipality, from which asylum seekers can come to Ter Apel for registration and reception in a controlled manner. The Security Regions are making every effort to realize the 225 additional places for crisis emergency shelter (CNO) per region. On top of the agreed places per region, the aim is to realize another 225 CNO places per security region.
Timely accommodation for permit holders is necessary to get the throughput going further. This year, municipalities are committed to housing 20,000 status holders. Displacement should be avoided as much as possible. Additional social rental housing must be built for this. The fastest way to do that is to build more flexible housing. That is why the target has been raised to 37,500 flex homes in the period 2022-2024. Together with municipalities and provinces, a package has been developed in which parties receive security for the placement and relocation of flexible housing.
Van der Burg, State Secretary for Justice and Security: “Ter Apel is clearly the victim of the shortage of reception places in the Netherlands. It is terrible to see how many people have to sleep in the open air every night, because there are too few shelters available. I am therefore grateful to all parties for their constructive attitude that led to these administrative agreements.”
“Everyone sees inhumane situations that we do not want,” said President Bruls of the Security Council. ‘The need is dramatically high in Ter Apel and that makes it necessary to quickly arrive at a total package of measures, which looks at both the short and the long term. Solidarity is paramount here, we need all parties to get out of the asylum crisis and stay.’
Jaap Smit, chairman of the joint provinces (IPO): “The images that are sent around the world from the municipality of Westerwolde in the province of Groningen underline that the asylum issue is a major Dutch problem. The agreements made today have also been supported by the joint provinces based on a strongly shared sense of urgency.”
Minister De Jonge for Housing and Spatial Planning: “If we want to be able to offer everyone a decent roof over their head, the construction of flexible housing must be stepped up considerably. We do this for everyone who is urgently looking for a home, people who have been on the waiting list for some time and people who have been given the right to stay in the Netherlands and who have fled war and violence. Together with municipalities and provinces, we provide parties with security for the placement and relocation of flex homes for which we are allocating €316 million.”
Theo Weterings, Asylum portfolio holder at the VNG: ‘With these agreements we are laying a good joint basis for solving the degrading situation in Ter Apel. We can also remove and maintain the reception of asylum seekers and housing and integration of status holders in a way that has more support from municipalities and our residents. We are committed to collective housing that can be used flexibly for housing status holders and other local emergency seekers and other target groups. Customization is important here. The work resulting from these agreements will be fully compensated by the government. An important fact, given the poor financial prospects of municipalities for 2026.’
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