At the overcrowded application center for asylum seekers in Ter Apel, people will also sleep outside next night. A spokeswoman for the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) cannot say how many people are involved.
In any case, the numbers would be lower than last night, when, according to the COA, about three hundred asylum seekers spent the night outside, the highest number to date. Vulnerable people such as families and the sick have been given shelter tonight, the spokeswoman said.
Not only last night, also in the night from Wednesday to Thursday people slept outside. According to the COA, that was about 70 people. In the previous nights, asylum seekers were also forced to sleep in the open air.
According to her, tents are used outside to spend the night. “As a result, we have less insight into how many people are sitting on the lawn ‘in front of us’,” said the spokeswoman, who refers to the area in front of the gate at the registration center.
The municipality of Westerwolde, which includes Ter Apel, has today designated the forecourt of the application center as a safety risk area. This means that the police and the municipality have more options for supervision and, for example, to carry out preventive searches. Its purpose is to protect especially vulnerable women and children, as well as personnel working in the field.
The Groningen application center has been busy for months. Over the past period, asylum seekers regularly slept outside and at times it was restless. Asylum seekers centers no longer have a place and status holders cannot move on to a home due to, among other things, the overheated housing market.