The owner of Landhotel ‘t Elshuys in Albergen has to sell the hotel to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA). The court in Almelo decided this on Monday during summary proceedings that the COA had brought against the owner of the hotel. According to the court, the COA played “open card” about the intentions to turn the hotel into a reception location for asylum seekers.
Also read: COA: Municipality of Tubbergen had known for some time about plans for asylum seekers’ center in hotel
The COA had taken the hotel owner to court last week because she wanted to get out of the sale, even though the purchase contract had already been signed. The owner claimed that she would not have agreed to the sale if she knew in advance that 150 to 300 asylum seekers and status holders would be accommodated on the hotel grounds – a maximum of 200 people in the hotel and a maximum of 100 in units around the building. She says that the COA has not been clear about this.
According to the COA, this was clear from the start and the hotel’s estate agent even insisted not to put anything specific in the purchase contract about the use of the building. “That is your political struggle, your risk,” said the broker, as it turned out in the court. The lawyer of the COA classifies the owner as a regretful optant, “pressured by her environment”.
There has been a lot to do around the hotel ‘t Elshuys in Albergen, in the Overijssel municipality of Tubbergen. Several demonstrations took place by local residents who are against the arrival of asylum seekers in the village. There was also a fire on the property Monday morning. State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD) passed Tubbergen as one of the first municipalities in the decision to receive asylum seekers. The government is doing this to relieve the pressure on Ter Apel. The COA also mentioned the current reception crisis and the fact that families sleep outside in the courtroom on Monday afternoon as an urgent matter.
With the cooperation of Marit Willemsen
Also read: Fire on the grounds of the asylum hotel in Albergen, cause still unclear