Asylum seekers who report to Ter Apel this evening must remain in the waiting area of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) until there is room in the asylum seeker center. This is reported by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). It is not clear how many people are involved.
Earlier on Tuesday, the COA expected that there would be around 2,300 asylum seekers in Ter Apel on Tuesday evening, where there is room for a maximum of 2,000 people. A spokesperson emphasized at the time that this was a forecast. Now the COA says that the number of people in Ter Apel will probably rise to 2,300 on Wednesday.
“All efforts are aimed at creating sufficient reception places to accommodate asylum seekers and reducing the occupancy in Ter Apel as quickly as possible,” COA said in a statement. In recent weeks, several asylum seekers have been forced to spend the night on a mattress or chair in the IND waiting room. This is expected to happen again during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The pressure on the registration center in Ter Apel has been increasing for weeks. Last weekend, several asylum seekers had to spend the night on a mattress or chair in the waiting area of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) in Groningen, because there were no more beds available in the asylum seeker center. That also happened earlier this month.
COA is in continuous discussions about asylum reception with the Ministry of Justice and Security of State Secretary Eric van der Burg, who is responsible for asylum matters. He has called on municipalities and provinces several times to arrange additional reception locations. This has happened in a number of places, but the pressure on asylum reception remains high.
In response to those calls, “several conversations are still ongoing”, says Van der Burg’s spokesperson. At the end of May, the State Secretary warned in a letter “as a last resort” to accommodate asylum seekers in hotels “if necessary without being asked”. Partly in view of the ongoing discussions, the time is not right to do this now, the spokesperson says. “That would put pressure on administrative relations.”
“It’s not a decision you make lightly,” she adds. You will need the municipalities or provinces that are thus ‘overruled’ again later.