The situation for children in the Ter Apel application center is unacceptable. That is what Children’s Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer says to NRC† Underage refugees are “mentally neglected” in the application center, says Kalverboer. Children without parents stay there for a longer period of time without any form of daytime activities, help or attention. According to the Ombudsman for Children, the refugee children leave the center with more trauma than they enter.
The Ombudsman for Children paid a visit to Ter Apel this week, after the mayor of Groningen Koen Schuiling warned about the living conditions in the application center last weekend. “Unworthy of a civilized country”, he called the fate of asylum seekers and status holders in Ter Apel.
Kalverboer specifically inquired about the situation of asylum children. 113 minors without family reside in Ter Apel. Nothing has been arranged for them, says Kalverboer. “No education, no activities, no help: nothing. They get to eat – and that’s it. Supervisors told me that they don’t even wake children up in the morning anymore, because there is nothing to do anyway.”
Officially, asylum seekers should go from Ter Apel to a reception location within six days. However, this term is never met, says Kalverboer, which means that they are in Ter Apel for weeks or months. She spoke to six minors about their life in the center. “A 16-year-old boy who fled Afghanistan alone has been there for three weeks now. All alone, with a lot of stress. He said that he mainly misses a telephone and a watch. Because when he lies awake at night, he has no idea what time it is. He was totally disoriented.” Two 17-year-old girls, who fled Syria without family, told how lonely and desperate they felt. “They had been sitting there doing nothing for weeks, not knowing when they would finally be taken care of somewhere. These are traumatized children, you cannot just leave them to their fate.”
These young people need attention and contact, says Kalverboer. “They come from a situation of acute stress. Then you expose them to total neglect. What do you think will happen then? You are exacerbating their problems. The government is responsible for that.”
Legal term
According to Kalverboer, the problem is known to all authorities. “That’s what I find so astonishing about this. When I discuss this with the Ministry of Justice and Security, they say: we already know this, we don’t think it’s right either. The IND and COA are also aware of this, and they are very sorry. But nobody does anything.”
She proposes two solutions. Or the stay in Ter Apel is reduced to the statutory term of six days. If this does not happen, the shelter in Ter Apel must be expanded considerably, according to her, with daytime activities, training and assistance. “Because the current policy is driving these children crazy.”
The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) recognizes the signs. “We also believe that unaccompanied minors should stay too long in Ter Apel and that we fall through a lower limit in terms of guidance,” says the spokesperson. “That is because there are too few reception places elsewhere in the Netherlands.” COA takes measures to limit the damage. For example, new coaches have been deployed since Thursday to mentally support the minors.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of April 15, 2022