There is no bed available for more than 120 asylum seekers in the reception center in Ter Apel on Monday evening. “They have to spend the night in the waiting room of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Unfortunately, they have to sleep on a chair there tonight,” says a spokesperson for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA).
In addition to the regular influx of asylum seekers, it is extra busy in Ter Apel on Monday because the emergency shelters in Breda and Nijmegen are closed. “This caused an extra influx of two hundred people,” the spokesperson said.
Ter Apel has been struggling with large crowds for quite some time now. As a result, COA often has to find extra places to sleep at the last minute and asylum seekers sometimes sleep on chairs. Ter Apel has room for 2,000 people. Earlier this month, people lay on the lawn outside the center for hours. It is not that far now, outside the center it looks quiet.
To relieve Ter Apel, the 25 security regions in the Netherlands must realize 150 reception places per region from the middle of this week.
Earlier in the evening, COA already announced that it would be ‘very exciting’ and that the scenario that is unfolding now cannot be ruled out. The extra reception places are eagerly awaited. “Then we get considerably more air,” said a spokesperson.
Facilities have now been completed in four regions. It is unclear which regions have already fulfilled their commitment. However, it was announced last week that Friesland was the first to provide 150 shelter places. The Security Council referred questions about other security regions to the Ministry of Justice and Security. The ministry could not be reached for comment.