The open day of the asylum seekers’ center in Budel was seized on Saturday by a group of people to demonstrate against the asylum seekers’ center. The demonstrators, about fifty, want the asylum seekers center to close as soon as possible. They are tired of the nuisance of a certain group of asylum seekers. Most of the demonstrators have returned home around two o’clock in the afternoon.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg would like the asylum seekers center to remain open after 2024 and can be found regularly in the municipality of Budel. But part of the residents and the majority of the city council want the center to close.
The turnout is a bit disappointing for Richard Verbakel from Maarheeze this Saturday. “I had hoped for more. The drizzly weather probably didn’t help, but I hope the message gets across. We are more than tired of the daily nuisance of the theft of bicycles, from shops and the aggression.”
“We don’t feel heard,” organizer Verbakel continues. “Nothing will change. We have to wait until residents of Budel and Maarheeze start playing in front of their own judges. That happened recently when bicycle thieves from the asylum seekers’ center were caught in the act. I predict that this will happen more often.”
‘Safelanders’
A number of people do want to receive asylum seekers, but not in the way it is currently happening in Budel. “Real refugees are welcome,” says Harm van Leuken of the group of demonstrators. “But after ten years of asylum seekers’ centre, it has been enough.” Earlier this year, the city council adopted a proposal that the asylum seekers center should close in 2024.
1500 people live in the asylum seekers’ center. A group of one hundred to 150 people causes nuisance. They mainly come from safe countries in North Africa such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The village of Maarheeze has been bothered by these ‘safe emigrants’ for years. Some residents do not feel safe on the street and at the station in Maarheeze. Earlier this year, the asylum seekers’ center was in the news negatively because of a number of stabbings.
Organizer Richard Verbakel knows the numbers and that a small group is ruining it for most other residents of the AZC. “I doubt whether it is only 150 ringleaders. Instinctively there are many more. It is also frustrating to see that if they are arrested, they often walk around free the same day.”
nuisances
All asylum seekers’ centers in the Netherlands are holding an open day on Saturday to create more understanding among local residents. The people who work in the asylum seekers’ center in Budel want the center to remain open. They think it is a pity that the asylum seekers who live there are the victims of a smaller group of nuisances. They also believe that the security situation is better under control thanks to extra surveillance and cameras.
Bert Scholtes is environmental manager of the AZC in Budel and understands the demonstrators at the door. “Everyone is free to demonstrate and is allowed to do so. There are people who are seriously concerned about safety and that’s a point.”
The asylum seekers’ center will soon receive a major refurbishment. For example, the entrance and residential buildings are being refurbished. Sticking frames and holes in the floor are tackled. Some politicians and residents of Cranendonck fear that this refurbishment will mean that the national government will bypass the city council and that the asylum seekers center will be forced to remain open.
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After years of nuisance, Budel does not want to be forced to receive asylum seekers