The emergency crisis shelter in Wervershoof for 200 asylum seekers will close on May 1, as agreed with the village and the North Holland North Safety Region. The municipality of Medemblik informed NH about this. It is not clear where the group of asylum seekers will go next.
The municipality of Medemblik is responding to the letter from the Village Council of Wervershoof earlier this week sent to the municipality. It stated that they had ‘taken note’ of the idea of using the crisis emergency shelter in the village as an asylum seeker center (azc).
This raised questions among the Village Council because Dennis Straat, then acting mayor of Medemblik, ‘made firm agreements’ and ‘promises were made to the village’ that the crisis emergency shelter would disappear on May 1.
Another municipality in West Friesland would then take over, the village said. “We understand that the municipality and perhaps the region have choices to make, but Wervershoof has done its duty. We assume that the shelter will close and be demolished on May 1,” said chairman Floortje Boos.
Shelter is temporary
The municipality is fulfilling this promise, Mayor Michiel Pijl now says. “It was clearly communicated from the start that the crisis emergency shelter in Wervershoof was temporary, so nothing has changed. We are happy that we have been able to realize this shelter in our municipality in collaboration with the North Holland North Safety Region. We thank them for their efforts and are also grateful for the willingness of our residents and the help of volunteers who helped make this possible.”
There are currently 200 asylum seekers staying in the crisis emergency shelter. It is not clear where this group will go after May 1. They previously stayed in Enkhuizen and Avenhorn.
What does the dispersal law mean for Medemblik?
Given the number of inhabitants and the socio-economic factors, Medemblik must, according to the distribution key from the government, accommodate 263 asylum seekers, of which 22 are unaccompanied minors. Whether the municipality will actually absorb this number will only become clear later. It is still possible for municipalities in West Friesland to ‘exchange’ shelter places with each other.