The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) has given up the search for a place to sleep on Saturday for hundreds of asylum seekers at the application center in Ter Apel. A spokesperson informs NU.nl about this. The organization responsible for the reception and guidance of asylum seekers in the Netherlands says it will continue the search on Sunday.
The Netherlands has been struggling with a reception crisis for months. The numbers of asylum seekers who come to our country are not too bad. The problem is the flow from the application center in Ter Apel in Groningen to asylum seekers’ centers or a regular home. As a result, the application center is structurally bulging.
According to the COA spokesperson, the body pulled out all the stops on Saturday. Yet hundreds of asylum seekers will have to spend the night outside. “There are no places. Tomorrow we will look further.”
COA says that it has been in talks with municipalities and security regions throughout the day. It has not resulted in all asylum seekers having a place to sleep. “Everyone is doing their best, but we just don’t have room anymore.”
It is not the first time that asylum seekers in Ter Apel have had to sleep outside. For example, the Red Cross placed fifty tents in June to alleviate the suffering at the registration center.
A few days later, the emergency aid organization removed the tents again. “It is a means of pressure to get the government to take action,” a spokesperson told NU.nl at the time.