It is unclear when the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) must comply with the legal ruling that the maximum number of asylum seekers in the reception center in Ter Apel may no longer be exceeded. The COA spoke in recent weeks on Tuesday, February 20. A spokesperson for the municipality of Westerwolde now says that the ruling applies from Wednesday.
The verdict was on Tuesday, January 23. The judge gave the COA four weeks. On Tuesday, February 20, it will be four weeks since the ruling was made, but the spokesperson for Westerwolde says that the time will only start once the COA has received a letter containing the ruling. This was on Wednesday, January 24, she says. This means that COA must only comply with the judge’s ruling a day later. A COA spokesperson said in a response that he had assumed this would happen on Tuesday.
The court was also unable to provide a definitive answer on Monday afternoon. According to the spokesperson, the parties themselves are responsible for claiming the penalty. He further states that “in general, the four-week period starts one day after notification.” Service is the delivery of the judgment to the defendant party.
On Monday morning, the COA announced that there were currently more than 2,200 people staying in the registration center in Ter Apel. The maximum number is 2000. Every day that this number is exceeded, a penalty of 15,000 euros will apply.